Short bioactive peptides

ABSTRACT

Short bioactive peptides containing phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine residues are disclosed. The peptides can be used in antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer, and other biological applications.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to short length peptides containing phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine amino acid residues (F, L, A, and K; “FLAK peptides”) in their primary sequence. In particular, FLAK peptides having desirable antimicrobial, antifungal, anticancer, and other biological activities are disclosed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various bioactive peptides have been reported in both the scientific literature and in issued patents. Peptides historically have been isolated from natural sources, and have recently been the subject of structure-function relationship studies. Additionally, natural peptides have served as starting points for the design of synthetic peptide analogs.

A review of peptide antibiotics was published by R. E. W. Hancock in 1997 (Lancet 349: 418-422). The structure, function, and clinical applications of various classes of peptides were discussed. An additional review of cationic peptide antibiotics was published in 1998 (Hancock, R. E. W. and Lehrer, R. Trends Biotechnol. 16: 82-88). The peptides are typically cationic amphipathic molecules of 12 to 45 amino acids in length. The peptides permeabilize cell membranes leading to the control of microbial agents. The clinical potential of host defense cationic peptides was discussed by R. E. W. Hancock in 1999 (Drugs 57(4): 469-473; Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 43(6): 1317-1323). The antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anticancer, and wound healing properties of the class of peptides are discussed.

Reviews of the structural features of helical antimicrobial peptides, and their presumed mechanisms of action have been published (see, for example, Dathe, M. and Wieprecht, T. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1462: 71-87 (1999); Epand, R. M. and Vogel H. J. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1462: 11-28 (1999)). Structural parameters believed to be capable of modulating activity and selectivity include helicity, hydrophobic moment, hydrophobicity, angle subtended by the hydrophilic/hydrophobic helix surfaces, and charge.

A wide array of naturally occurring alpha helical peptides have been reported. The following are representative of the many references in the field.

Cecropins are a family of α-helical peptides isolated from insects. Cecropins are known for their antibacterial properties, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,355,104 and 4,520,016. The cecropins were generally found to have activity against gram-negative bacteria, but not against all gram-negative bacteria. Cecropins were found not to have activity against eucaryotic cells (Andreu, et al., Biochemistry 24: 163-188 (1985); Boman, et al., Developmental and Comparative Immunol. 9: 551-558 (1985); Steiner et al., Nature 292: 246-248 (1981)). Cecropins from Drosophila and Hyalphora were presented as having activity against various strains of fungi (Ekengren, S. and Hultmark, D., Insect Biochem. and Molec. Biol. 29: 965-972 (1999)). Cecropin A from mosquito Aedes aegypti is reportedly different from most insect cecropins in that it lacks tryptophan and C-terminal amidation (Lowenberger, C. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 274(29): 20092-20097 (1999)).

Frogs from the genus Rana produce a wide array of antimicrobial peptides in their skin (Goraya, J. et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 267: 894-900 (2000)). Peptides as short as 13 amino acids were reported, and were grouped into structural families. The sequences showed little or no sequence identity to peptides isolated from frogs of other genera, such as the magainin and dermaseptin peptides.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,410 disclosed the inhibition of eucaryotic pathogens, and the stimulation of lymphocytes and fibroblasts with lytic peptides such as cecropins and sarcotoxins. Various peptides presented include Cecropin B, Cecropin SB-37, Cecropin A, Cecropin D, Shiva-1, Lepidopteran, Sarcotoxin 1A, Sarcotoxin 1B, and Sarcotoxin 1C.

Transgenic mice producing the Shiva-1 cecropin class lytic peptide were reported by Reed, W. A. et al., Transgenic Res. 6: 337-347 (1997). Infection of the transgenic mice with a Brucella abortus challenge resulted in a reduction of the number of bacteria relative to infection of non-transgenic mice.

Magainin is an α-helical 23 amino acid peptide isolated from the skin of the African frog Xenopus laevis (Zasloff, M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84: 5449-5453 (1987).

Cathelin associated α-helical peptides of 23 to 38 amino acids are found in the blood cells of sheep, humans, cattle, pigs, mice, and rabbits (Zanetti, M. et al., FEBS Lett. 374: 1-5 (1995)).

The antimicrobial activities of buforin II, cecropin P1, indolicidin, magainin II, nisin, and ranalexin were reported by Giacomette, A. et al. (Peptides 20: 1265-1273 (1999)). The peptides showed variable activities against bacteria and yeast.

Various synthetic peptides have been prepared and assayed both in vitro and in vivo.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,478 disclosed synthetic lytic peptides of about 20 to 40 amino acids which adopt an α-helical conformation. The peptides are effective in the treatment of microbial infections, wounds, and cancer. The peptides disclosed include cecropin B, SB-37*, LSB-37, SB-37, Shiva 1 and 10-12, β-fibrin signal peptide, Manitou 1-2, Hecate 1-3, Anubis 1-5 and 8, and Vishnu 1-3 and 8.

Hecate was described as a synthetic peptide analog of melittin by Baghian, A. et al. (Peptides 18(2): 177-183 (1997)). The peptides differ in their charge distribution, but not in their amphipathic alpha helical conformation. Hecate inhibited herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) while not adversely affecting cell growth and protein synthesis.

Synthetic peptides D2A21, D4E1, D2A22, D5C, D5C1, D4E, and D4B were described in Schwab, U. et al., Antimicrob. Agents and Chemotherapy 43(6): 1435-1440 (1999). Activities against various bacterial strains were presented.

Hybrid peptides made of cecropin and melittin peptides were reportedly prepared and assayed by Juvvadi, P. et al. (J. Peptide Res. 53: 244-251 (1999)). Hybrids were synthesized to investigate the effects of sequence, amide bond direction (helix dipole), charge, amphipathicity, and hydrophobicity on channel forming ability and on antibacterial activity. Sequence and amide bond direction were suggested to be important structural requirements for the activity of the hybrids.

A 26 amino acid insect cecropin—bee melittin hybrid, and analogs thereof, were described in a study of salt resistance (Friedrich, C. et al., Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 43(7): 1542-1548 (1999)). A tryptophan residue in the second position was found to be critical for activity. Modest changes in sequence were found to lead to substantial changes in the properties of the peptides.

The effects of proline residues on the antibacterial properties of α-helical peptides has been published (Zhang, L. et al., Biochem. 38: 8102-8111 (1999)). The addition of prolines was reported to change the membrane insertion properties, and the replacement of a single proline may change an antimicrobial peptide into a toxin.

A series of peptides having between 18 and 30 amino acids were prepared in order to test the effects of changes in sequence and charge on antibacterial properties (Scott, M. G., et al., Infect. Immun. 67(4): 2005-2009 (1999)). No significant correlation was found between length, charge, or hydrophobicity and the antimicrobial activity of the peptides. A general trend was found that shorter peptides were less active than longer peptides, although the authors expressed that this effect would probably be sequence dependent.

“Modellins”, a group of synthetic peptides were prepared and assayed to compare sequence and structure relationships (Bessalle, R. et al. J. Med. Chem. 36: 1203-1209 (1993)). Peptides of 16 and 17 amino acids having hydrophobic and hydrophilic opposite faces were highly hemolytic and antibacterial. Smaller peptides tended to have lower biological activities.

A cecropin-melittin hybrid peptide and an amidated flounder peptide were found to protect salmon from Vibrio anguillarum infections in vivo (Jia, X. et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66(5): 1928-1932 (2000)). Osmotic pumps were used to deliver a continuous dose of either peptide to the fish.

Amphipathic peptides have been reported as being capable of enhancing wound healing and stimulating fibroblast and keratinocyte growth in vivo (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,001,805 and 5,561,107). Transgenic plants have been reportedly prepared expressing lytic peptides as a fusion protein with ubiquitin (U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,156). Methylated lysine rich lytic peptides were reportedly prepared, displaying improved proteolytic resistance (U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,064).

While a number of natural and synthetic peptides exist, there exists a need for improved bioactive peptides and methods for their use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Short (i.e. no more than 23 amino acids in length) peptides containing phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine amino acid residues in their primary sequence are disclosed. The peptides display desirable antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer biological activities, and also cause stimulation and proliferation of human fibroblasts and lmphocytes.

Description of the Sequence Listings

The following sequence listings form part of the present specification and are included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the present invention. The invention may be better understood by reference to one or more of these sequences in combination with the detailed description of specific embodiments presented herein.

TABLE 1 P- SEQ ID NO: Name No. Primary sequence 1 Hecate AC #1010 1 FALALKALKKALKKLKKALKKAL-COOH 2 Hecate AM 2 FALALKALKKALKKLKKALKKAL-NH2 3 SB-37 AC #1018 5 MPKWKVFKKIEKVGRNIRNGIVKAGPAIAVLGEAKALG- COOH 4 Shiva 10 AM 11 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLAKLALAL-NH2 5 SB-37 AM 12 MPKWKVFKKIEKVGRNIRNGIVKAGPAIAVLGEAKALG- NH2 6 Shiva 10 AC #1015 13 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLAKLALAL-COOH 7 Magainin 2 16 GIGKFLHSAKKFGKAFVGGIMNS-NH2 8 FLAK01 AM 23 FALAAKALKKLAKKLKKLAKKAL-NH2 9 FLAK03 AM 24 FALALKALKKLLKKLKKLAKKAL-NH2 10 FLAK04 AM 25 FALALKALKKLAKKLKKLAKKAL-NH2 11 FLAK05 AM 26 FALAKLAKKAKAKLKKALKAL-NH2 12 FLAK06 AM 27 FALALKALKKLKKALKKAL-NH2 13 FLAK06 AC 27 FALALKALKKLKKALKKAL-COOH B 14 FLAK06 R-AC 27 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKLALAL-COOH C 15 KAL V 30 VALALKALKKALKKLKKALKKAL-NH2 16 FLAK 17 AM 34 FALALKKALKALKKAL-NH2 17 FLAK 26 AM 35 FAKKLAKLAKKLAKLAL-NH2 18 FLAK 25 AM 36 FAKKLAKLAKKLAKLALAL-NH2 19 Hecate 2DAc 37 FALALKALKKAL-(D)-K-(D)-KLKKALKKAL-COOH 20 FLAK43 AM 38 FAKKLAKLAKKLLAL-NH2 21 FLAK44 AM 39 FAKKLAKLAKKALAL-NH2 22 FLAK62 AM 40 FALAKKALKKAKKAL-NH2 23 FLAK 06R-AM 41 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKLALAK-NH2 24 MSI-78 AM 42 GIGKFLKKAKKFGKAFVKILKK-NH2 25 FLAK50 43 FAKLLAKLAKKLL-NH2 26 FLAK51 44 FAKKLAKLALKLAKL-NH2 27 FLAK57 45 FAKKLAKKLAKLAL-NH2 28 FLAK71 46 FAKKLKKLAKLAKKL-NH2 29 FLAK77 47 FAKKALKALKKL-NH2 30 FLAK50V 48 VAKLLAKLAKKLL-NH2 31 FLAK50F 49 FAKLLAKLAKKL-NH2 32 FLAK26V AM 50 VAKKLAKLAKKLAKLAL-NH2 33 CAME-15 53 KWKLFKKIGAVLKVL-NH2 34 FLAK50C 54 FAKLLAKLAKKAL-NH2 35 FLAK50D 55 FAKLLAKALKKLL-NH2 36 FLAK 50E 56 FAKLLKLAAKKLL-NH2 37 FLAK80 57 FAKLLAKKLL-NH2 38 FLAK81 58 FAKKLAKALL-NH2 39 FLAK82 59 FAKKLAKKLL-NH2 40 FLAK83M 60 FAKLAKKLL-NH2 41 FLAK 26 Ac 61 FAKKLAKLAKKLAKLAL-COOH 42 Indolicidin 63 ILPWKWPWWPWRR-NH2 43 FLAK 17C 64 FAKALKALLKALKAL-NH2 44 FLAK 50H 65 FAKLLAKLAKAKL-NH2 45 FLAK 50G 66 FAKLLAKLAKLKL-NH2 46 Shiva Deriv 70 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLAKKWKL-NH2 P69+KWKL 47 Shiva 10(1-18 AC) 71 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLAK-COOH 48 Shiva 10 peptide 72 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLAKKWKL-COOH 71+KWKL 49 CA(1-7)Shiva10(1- 73 KWKLFKKKTKLFKKFAKKLAKKL-NH2 16) 50 FLAK 54 74 FAKKLAKKLAKAL-NH2 51 FLAK 56 75 FAKKLAKKLAKLL-NH2 52 FLAK 58 76 FAKKLAKKLAKAAL-NH2 53 FLAK 72 77 FAKKLAKKAKLAKKL-NH2 54 FLAK 75 79 FAKKLKKLAKKL-NH2 55 Shiva 10 (1-16) Ac 80 KTKLFKKFAKKLAKKLKKLAKKL-COOH 56 CA(1-7)Shiva10 81 KWKLFKKKTKLFKKFAKKLAKKL-COOH (1-16)-COOH 57 Indolocidin-ac 91 ILPWKWPWWPWRR-COOH 58 FLAK50B 92 FAKALAKLAKKLL-NH2 59 FLAK50J 93 FAKLLAKLAKKAA-NH2 60 FLAK50I 94 FAKLLALALKLKL-NH2 61 FLAK50K 95 FAKLLAKLAKAKA-NH2 62 FLAK50L 96 FAKLLAKLAKAKG-NH2 63 Shiva-11 98 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLAKLALALKALALKAL-NH2 64 Shiva 11 99 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLIGAVLKV-COOH [(1-16)ME(2-9]- COOH 65 FLAK 50N 101 FAKLLAKALKLKL-NH2 66 FLAK 50O 102 FAKLLAKALKKAL-NH2 67 FLAK 50P 103 FAKLLAKALKKL-NH2 68 CA(1- 104 KWKLFKKALKKLKKALKKAL-NH2 &Hecate(11/23) 69 PYL-ME 105 KIAKVALAKLGIGAVLKVLTTGL-NH2 70 FLAG26-D1 106 FAKKLAKLAKKL-NH2 71 Vishnu3 107 MPKEKVFLKIEKMGRNIRN-NH2 72 Melittin 108 GIGAVLKVLTTGLPALISWIKRKRQQ-NH2 73 FLAK26-D2 109 FAKKLAKLAKKLAKAL-NH2 74 FLAG26-D3 110 FAKKLLAKALKL-NH2 75 FLAK50 Q1 111 FAKFLAKFLKKAL-NH2 76 FLAK50 Q2 112 FAKLLFKALKKAL-NH2 77 FLAK50 Q3 113 FAKLLAKFLKKAL-NH2 78 FLAK50 Q4 114 FAKLLAKAFKKAL-NH2 79 FLAK50 Q5 117 FAKLFAKAFKKAL-NH2 80 FLAK50 Q6 118 FAKLLAKALKKFL-NH2 81 FLAK50 Q7 119 FAKLLAKALKKFAL-NH2 82 FLAK50 Q8 120 FAKLLAKLAKKFAL-NH2 83 FLAK50 Q9 121 FAKLFAKLAKKFAL-NH2 84 FLAK50 Q10 122 FKLAFKLAKKAFL-NH2 85 FLAK50 T1 123 FAKLLAKLAK-NH2 86 FLAK50 T2 124 FAKLLAKLAKKVL-NH2 87 FLAK50 T3 125 FAKLLAKLAKKIL-NH2 88 FLAK50 T4 126 FAKLLAKLAKKEL-NH2 89 FLAK50 T5 127 FAKLLAKLAKKSL-NH2 90 FLAK90 128 FAKLA-NH2 91 FLAK91 129 FAKLF-NH2 92 FLAK92 130 KAKLF-NH2 93 FLAK93 131 KWKLF-NH2 94 FLAK50 Z1 132 FGKGIGKVGKKLL-NH2 95 FLAK50 Z2 133 FAFGKGIGKVGKKLL-NH2 96 FLAK50 Z3 134 FAKAIAKIAFGKGIGKVGKKLL-NH2 97 FLAK50 Z4 135 FAKLWAKLAFGKGIGKVGKKLL-NH2 98 FLAK50 Z5 136 FAKLWAKLAKKL-NH2 99 FLAK50 Z6 137 FAKGVGKVGKKAL-NH2 100 FLAK50 Z7 138 FAFGKGIGKIGKKGL-NH2 101 FLAK50 Z8 139 FAKIIAKIAKIAKKIL-NH2 102 FLAK50 Z9 140 FAFAKIIAKIAKKII-NH2 103 FLAK94 141 FALALKA-NH2 104 FLAK93B 142 KWKLAKKALALL-NH2 105 FLAK50 Z10 143 FAKIIAKIAKKI-NH2 106 FLAK96 144 FALALKALKKAL-NH2 107 FLAK97 145 FALKALKK-NH2 108 FLAK98 146 KYKKALKKLAKLL-NH2 109 FKRLA 147 FKRLAKIKVLRLAKIKR-NH2 110 FLAK91B 148 FAKLAKKALAKLL-NH2 111 FLAK92B 149 KAKLAKKALAKLL-NH2 112 FLAK99 150 KLALKLALKALKAAKLA-NH2 113 FLAK50T6 151 FAKLLAKLAKK-NH2 114 FLAK50T7 152 FAKLLAKLAKKGL-NH2 115 FLAK95 153 FALKALKKLKKALKKAL-NH2 116 FLAK50T8 154 VAKLLAKLAKKVL-NH2 117 FLAK50T9 155 YAKLLAKLAKKAL-NH2 118 FLAK100-CO2H 156 KLLKLLLKLYKKLLKLL-COOH 119 FAGVL 157 FAVGLRAIKRALKKLRRGVRKVAKDL-NH2 120 Modelin-5 159 KLAKKLAKLAKLAKAL-NH2 121 Modelin-5-CO2H 160 KLAKKLAKLAKLAKAL-COOH 122 Modelin-8 161 KWKKLAKKW-NH2 123 Modelin-8-CO2H 162 KWKKLAKKW-COOH 124 Modelin-1 163 KLWKKWAKKWLKLWKAW-NH2 125 Modelin-1-CO2H 164 KLWKKWAKKWLKLWKA-COOH 126 FLAK120 165 FALALKALKKL-NH2 127 FLAK121 166 FALAKALKKAL-NH2 128 FLAK96B 167 FALALKLAKKAL-NH2 129 FLAK96G 168 FALLKL-NH2 130 FLAK96F 169 FALALKALKK-NH2 131 FLAK96C 170 FALKALKKAL-NH2 132 FLAK96D 171 FALLKALKKAL-NH2 133 Modelin-8B 172 KWKK-NH2 134 Modelin-8C 173 KWKKL-NH2 135 Modelin-8D 174 KFKKLAKKF-NH2 136 Modelin-8E 175 KFKKLAKKW-NH2 137 Flak 96 176 FALALKALKKA-NH2 138 Flak 96I 177 FALLKALLKKAL-NH2 139 Flak 96J 178 FALALKLAKKL-NH2 140 Flak 96L 179 LKKLAKLALAF-NH2 141 FLAK-120G 180 VALALKALKKL-NH2 142 FLAK-120D 181 FALALKLKKL-NH2 143 FLAK-120C 182 FALALKAKKL-NH2 144 FLAK-120B 183 FALA-NH2 145 FLAK-120F 184 WALAL-NH2 146 Magainin2wisc 300 GIGKFLHAAKKFAKAFVAEIMNS-NH2 147 D2A21 301 FAKKFAKKFKKFAKKFAKFAFAF-NH2 148 KSL-1 302 KKVVFKVKFK-NH2 149 KSL-7 303 FKVKFKVKVK-NH2 150 LSB-37 306 LPKWKVFKKIEKVGRNIRNGIVKAGPAIAVLGEAKALG- NH2 151 Anubis-2 307 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLAKLAKKL-NH2 152 FLAK17CV 501 VAKALKALLKALKAL-NH2 153 FLAK50Q1V 502 VAKFLAKFLKKAL-NH2 154 D2A21V 503 VAKKFAKKFKKFAKKFAKFAFAF-NH2 155 FLAK25AMV 504 VAKKLAKLAKKLAKLALAL-NH2 156 FLAK43AMV 505 VAKKLAKLAKKLLAL-NH2 157 FLAK50DV 506 VAKLLAKALKKLL-NH2 158 HECATE AMV 507 VALALKALKKALKKLKKALKKAL-NH2 159 HECATE ACV 508 VALALKALKKALKKLKKALKKAL-COOH 160 FLAK04AMV 509 VALALKALKKLAKKLKKLAKKAL-NH2 161 FLAK03AMV 510 VALALKALKKLLKKLKKLAKKAL-NH2 162 D-Shiva 10 AC 67 (D)-FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLAKLALAL-COOH 163 Shiva 11 AC 100 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLAKLALALKALALKA-COOH 164 Shiva 10 (1-18)AM 69 FAKKLAKKLKKLAKKLAK-NH2 165 FLAK 50M 97 FAKLLALALKKAL-NH2

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is generally directed towards peptides having desirable biological properties, and their use. It is surprising that the peptides are efficacious due to their short length as compared to other peptides described in the art.

Peptides

One embodiment of the invention is directed towards an isolated peptide comprising phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine residues, wherein the peptide is about 5 to about 23 amino acids in length. The peptide can have a minimum length of about 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, or about 18 amino acids. The peptide can have a maximum length of about 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, or about 23 amino acids. The peptide can be about 5 to about 20 amino acids in length. The peptide can consist essentially of, or consist of phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine residues. The peptide can have a percent amino acid composition of phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine residues of at least about 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100%. The peptide can generally be any of the listed SEQ ID NOS which fall within these various guidelines, and more preferably is SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:26, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:28, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:31, SEQ ID NO:32, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:36, SEQ ID NO:41, SEQ ID NO:43, SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:55, SEQ ID NO:56, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:65, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:71, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:77, SEQ ID NO:80, SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:84, SEQ ID NO:85, SEQ ID NO:86, SEQ ID NO:87, SEQ ID NO:90, SEQ ID NO:91, SEQ ID NO:92, SEQ ID NO:93, SEQ ID NO:106, SEQ ID NO:108, SEQ ID NO:112, SEQ ID NO:115, SEQ ID NO:116, SEQ ID NO:126, SEQ ID NO:127, SEQ ID NO:128, SEQ ID NO:129, SEQ ID NO:131, SEQ ID NO:132, SEQ ID NO:137, SEQ ID NO:138, SEQ ID NO:139, SEQ ID NO:140, SEQ ID NO:141, SEQ ID NO:142, SEQ ID NO:143, SEQ ID NO:144, SEQ ID NO:145, SEQ ID NO:152, SEQ ID NO:159, SEQ ID NO:162, SEQ ID NO:163, SEQ ID NO:164, and SEQ ID NO:165. The peptide is preferably not hecate-1, anubis-1, anubis-2, anubis-5, anubis-8, vishnu-1, vishnu-2, vishnu-3, vishnu-8, or shiva-10.

The peptide can be similar to any of the above described peptides, and preferably is similar to SEQ ID NO:2 (or SEQ ID NO:16 or SEQ ID NO:126), SEQ ID NO:4 (or SEQ ID NO:14 or SEQ ID NO:17), SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:43, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:84, SEQ ID NO:115, or SEQ ID NO:132 as determined by percent identity. The percent identity between the peptides is preferably at least about 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100%. Percent identity is determined using a sequence alignment by the commercial product CLUSTALW. The number of aligned amino acids are divided by the length of the shorter peptide, and the result is multiplied by 100% to determine percent identity. If the length of the shorter peptide is less than 10 amino acids, the number of aligned amino acids are divided by 10, and the result is multiplied by 100% to determine percent identity.

The peptides can comprise D- or L-amino acids. The peptides can comprise all D-amino acids. The peptides can have an acid C-terminus (—CO₂H) or an amide C-terminus (—CONH₂, —CONHR, or —CONR₂).

Methods of Use

An additional embodiment of the invention is directed towards methods of using the above described peptides. The methods of use preferably do not cause injury or kill normal uninfected mammalian cells. The methods of use at therapeutic dose levels preferably do not cause injury to or kill normal uninfected or non-neoplastic mammalian cells. The methods of use may involve the use of a single peptide, or may involve the use of multiple peptides.

An embodiment of the invention is the use of the above described peptides to inhibit or kill microbial cells (microorganisms). The microorganisms may be bacterial cells, fungal cells, protozoa, viruses, or eucaryotic cells infected with pathogenic microorganisms. The method generally is directed towards the contacting of microorganisms with the peptide. The contacting step can be performed in vivo, in vitro, topically, orally, transdermally, systemically, or by any other method known to those of skill in the art. The contacting step is preferably performed at a concentration sufficient to inhibit or kill the microorganisms. The concentration of the peptide can be at least about 0.1 μM, at least about 0.5 μM, at least about 1 μM, at least about 10 μM, at least about 20 μM, at least about 50 μM, or at least about 100 μM. The methods of use can be directed towards the inhibition or killing of microorganisms such as bacteria, gram positive bacteria, gram negative bacteria, mycobacteria, yeast, fungus, algae, protozoa, viruses, and intracellular organisms. Specific examples include, but are not limited to, Staphylococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Chlamydia, Candida albicans, Saccharomyces, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Trypanosoma cruzi, or Plasmodium falciparum. The contacting step can be performed by systemic injection, oral, subcutaneous, IP, IM, IV injection, or by topical application. For injection, the dosage can be between any of the following concentrations: about 1 mg/kg, about 5 mg/kg, about 10 mg/kg, about 25 mg/kg, about 50 mg/kg, about 75 mg/kg, and about 100 mg/kg. The contacting step can be performed on a mammal, a cat, a dog, a cow, a horse, a pig, a bird, a chicken, a plant, a fish, or a human.

Preferred peptides for antibacterial applications include SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:26, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:28, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:31, SEQ ID NO:32, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:36, SEQ ID NO:41, SEQ ID NO:43, SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:55, SEQ ID NO:56, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:65, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:77, SEQ ID NO:80, SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:84, SEQ ID NO:86, SEQ ID NO:87, SEQ ID NO:93, SEQ ID NO:106, SEQ ID NO:108, SEQ ID NO:112, SEQ ID NO:115, SEQ ID NO:126, SEQ ID NO:128, SEQ ID NO:162, SEQ ID NO:163, SEQ ID NO:164, and SEQ ID NO:165.

Preferred peptides for antifungal applications include SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:80, SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:84, SEQ ID NO:85, SEQ ID NO:86, SEQ ID NO:106, SEQ ID NO:108, SEQ ID NO:115, SEQ ID NO:116, SEQ ID NO:126, SEQ ID NO:128, SEQ ID NO:131, SEQ ID NO:143, SEQ ID NO:163, and SEQ ID NO:165.

An additional embodiment of the invention is the use of any of the above described peptides to inhibit or kill cancer cells. The method generally is directed towards the contacting of cancer cells with the peptide. The contacting step can be performed in vivo, in vitro, topically, orally, transdermally, systemically, or by any other method known to those of skill in the art. The contacting step is preferably performed at a concentration sufficient to inhibit or kill the cancer cells. The concentration of the peptide can be at least about at least about 0.1 μM, at least about 0.5 M, at least about 1 μM, at least about 10 μM, at least about 20 μM, at least about 50 μM, or at least about 100 μM. The cancer cells can generally be any type of cancer cells. The cancer cells can be sarcomas, lymphomas, carcinomas, leukemias, breast cancer cells, colon cancer cells, skin cancer cells, ovarian cancer cells, cervical cancer cells, testicular cancer cells, lung cancer cells, prostate cancer cells, and skin cancer cells. The contacting step can be performed by subcutaneous, IP injection, IM injection, IV injection, direct tumor injection, or topical application. For injection, the dosage can be between any of the following concentrations: about 0.1 mg/kg, about 1 mg/kg , about 5 mg/kg, about 10 mg/kg, about 25 mg/kg, about 50 mg/kg, about 75 mg/kg, and about 100 mg/kg. The contacting step can be performed on a mammal, a cat, a dog, a cow, a horse, a pig, a bird, a chicken, a plant, a fish, a goat, a sheep, or a human. The inhibition of cancer cells can generally be any inhibition of growth of the cancer cells as compared to the cancer cells without peptide treatment. The inhibition is preferably at least about 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, and ideally 100% inhibition of growth. The inhibition may be achieved by lysis of the cancer cells or by other means. The cancer inhibiting peptide can be used synergistically with other cancer chemotherapeutic agents.

Preferred peptides for anticancer applications include SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:26, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:32, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:56, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:86, SEQ ID NO:152, and SEQ ID NO:162

An additional embodiment of the invention is directed towards a method for promoting the stimulation and/or proliferation of cells. The method can comprise contacting the cells and a composition, wherein the composition comprises a peptide. The peptide can be any of the above described peptides. The concentration of the peptide in the composition can be about 0.01 μM to about 500 μM, about 0.1 μM to about 100 μM, about 1 μM to about 50 μM, or about 1 μM to about 10 μM. The cells can generally be any type of cells, and preferably are mammalian cells, specifically including, but not limited to fibroblast and leukocyte cells, including lymphocyte and phagocytic cells. The metabolic stimulation and/or proliferation of the cells is preferably increased by at least about 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 125%, 150%, 175%, or 200% relative to the same cells not contacted with the composition. The composition can further comprise a growth factor. The stimulatory and proliferative properties of some of the FLAK peptides hold promise for their application in skin care, wound healing, and in immunomodulation of compromised mammalian immune systems.

Preferred peptides for stimulation and proliferation applications include SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:28, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:32, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:55, SEQ ID NO:56, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:65, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:71, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:77, SEQ ID NO:80, SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:87, SEQ ID NO:90, SEQ ID NO:91, SEQ ID NO:92, SEQ ID NO:115, SEQ ID NO:116, SEQ ID NO:126, SEQ ID NO:127, SEQ ID NO:129, SEQ ID NO:132, SEQ ID NO:137, SEQ ID NO:138, SEQ ID NO:139, SEQ ID NO:140, SEQ ID NO:141, SEQ ID NO:142, SEQ ID NO:143, SEQ ID NO:144, SEQ ID NO:145, SEQ ID NO:159, SEQ ID NO:162, and SEQ ID NO:164.

An additional embodiment of the invention is directed towards a method for promoting wound healing of skin or ocular and internal body tissues damaged by normal aging, disease, injury, or by surgery or other medical procedures. The method can comprise administering to the wound of an animal a composition, wherein the composition comprises any of the above described peptides. The concentration of the peptide in the composition can be about 0.01 μM to about 500 μM, about 0.1 μM to about 100 μM, about 1 μM to about 50 μM, or about 1 μM to about 10 μM. The composition can be administered to the wound topically or by systemic delivery. The animal can generally be any kind of animal, preferably is a mammal, and more preferably is a human, cow, horse, cat, dog, pig, goat, or sheep. The promotion of wound healing is preferably at least 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 125%, 150%, 175%, or 200% relative to the same wound not contacted with the composition.

Preferred peptides for wound healing applications include SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:28, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:32, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:55, SEQ ID NO:56, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:65, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:71, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:77, SEQ ID NO:80, SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:87, SEQ ID NO:90, SEQ ID NO:91, SEQ ID NO:92, SEQ ID NO:93, SEQ ID NO:115, SEQ ID NO:116, SEQ ID NO:126, SEQ ID NO:127, SEQ ID NO:129, SEQ ID NO:132, SEQ ID NO:137, SEQ ID NO:138, SEQ ID NO:139, SEQ ID NO:140, SEQ ID NO:141, SEQ ID NO:142, SEQ ID NO:143, SEQ ID NO:144, SEQ ID NO:145, SEQ ID NO:159, SEQ ID NO:162, and SEQ ID NO:164.

A further embodiment of the invention is directed towards methods for the additive or synergistic enhancement of the activity of a therapeutic agent. The method can comprise preparing a composition, wherein the composition comprises a peptide and a therapeutic agent. Alternatively, the method may comprise co-therapy treatment with a peptide (or peptides) used in conjunction with other therapeutic agents. The peptide can be any of the above described peptides. The therapeutic agent can generally be any therapeutic agent, and preferably is an antibiotic, an antimicrobial agent, a growth factor, a chemotherapy agent, an antimicrobial agent, lysozyme, a chelating agent, or EDTA. Preferably, the activity of the composition is higher than the activity of the same composition containing the therapeutic agent but lacking the peptide. The composition or co-therapy can be used in in vitro, in vivo, topical, oral, IV, IM, IP, and transdermal applications. The enhancement of the activity of the composition containing the therapeutic agent and the peptide is preferably at least 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 125%, 150%, 175%, or 200% relative to the activity of the therapeutic agent alone.

Generally, any peptide which is active on a stand-alone basis against a target is preferred for use to increase either additively or synergistically the activity of another therapeutic agent against that target. If several peptides are candidates for a given synergy application, then the less toxic peptides would be more favorably considered.

The following Examples are included to demonstrate preferred embodiments of the invention. It should be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the techniques disclosed in the examples which follow represent techniques discovered by the inventor to function well in the practice of the invention, and thus can be considered to constitute preferred modes for its practice. However, those of skill in the art should, in light of the present disclosure, appreciate that many changes can be made in the specific embodiments which are disclosed and still obtain a like or similar result without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

EXAMPLES Example 1

Antimicrobial Assays

The data for the antimicrobial assay of the peptides have been obtained by making OD measurements in in vitro cell culture experiments with and without added peptide. The protocol used is as follows.

Cell lines included Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 or 25923, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027 or 29853. Medium used were Antibiotic Medium 3 (Difco), Antibiotic Medium 2 (Difco), and 0.85% saline. Controls used were physiological saline, and gentamycin at 50, 25, 10, 5, 1, and 0.1 ppm.

The preparation of all media, stock solutions, and dilutions took place in a laminar flow hood to prevent contamination. Bacterial cells were freshly grown on antibiotic medium 2 agar slants (pH 7.0 at 25° C.). Bacteria were suspended and diluted in antibiotic medium 3 to about 10⁴ cfu/ml and used as the inoculum. Sample solutions (100 μl/well) were added to plates according to the plate layout. Inoculum (100 μl/well) was added to achieve a final concentration of 5×10³ cfu/ml. Negative controls received 100 μl saline and 100 μl growth medium. Positive controls received 100 μl saline and 100 μl inoculum. Bacterial plates were incubated at 37° C. for 24 hours.

Absorbance was read at 620 nm after shaking to resuspend cells. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was defined as the lowest concentration of peptide that completely inhibits the growth of the test organism.

The yeast assay was performed in RPMI 1640 media (pH 7.0 at 25° C.).

The data presented in Table 2 were obtained using the above protocol. However, the data for Table 3 were obtained with a modified protocol wherein the medium was tryptic soy broth, inocolum strength was approximately 10⁴ CFU per ml, and values determined were minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) or minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFC).

The following Table 2 describes the antimicrobial properties of the peptides measured as MIC or MFC values in μg/mL. Staph6538 is Staphylococcus aureus ATCC accession number 6538; paerug9027 is Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC accession number 9027, yeast is Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

TABLE 2 SEQ ID Name NO: P Number staph6538 paerug9027 yeast Hecate AC #1010 1 1 5 10 > Hecate AM 2 2 25 100 25 SB-37 AC #1018 3 5 100 50 > SB-37 AM 5 12 > 100 > Shiva 10 AC 6 13 10 > > #1015 FLAK01 AM 8 23 5 50 100 FLAK04 AM 10 25 10 5 25 FLAK05 AM 11 26 10 15 > FLAK06 AM 12 27 10 10 25 KAL V 15 30 > > ND FLAK 17 AM 16 34 5 50 25 FLAK 26 AM 17 35 5 200 25 Hecate 2DAc 19 37 5 100 50 FLAK43 AM 20 38 5 50 50 FLAK44 AM 21 39 100 25 100 FLAK62 AM 22 40 100 25 100 FLAK 06R-AM 23 41 10 10 ND MSI-78 AM 24 42 10 > 200 FLAK50 25 43 5 100 25 FLAK51 26 44 5 5 50 FLAK57 27 45 5 100 100 FLAK71 28 46 10 5 50 FLAK77 29 47 200 100 50 FLAK50V 30 48 5 5 25 FLAK50F 31 49 10 200 50 FLAK26V AM 32 50 5 15 50 CAME-15 33 53 5 15 50 FLAK50C 34 54 5 50 50 FLAK50D 35 55 5 5 25 FLAK 50E 36 56 200 5 50 FLAK80 37 57 100 200 200 FLAK81 38 58 100 100 200 FLAK82 39 59 > > > FLAK83M 40 60 200 100 200 FLAK 17 C 43 64 5 > 200 FLAK 50H 44 65 15 50 200 FLAK 50G 45 66 5 50 100 Shiva deriv 46 70 10 > 100 P69 + KWKL Shiva 10 (1-18_(—) 47 71 15 15 200 AC CA(1-7) 49 73 50 15 100 Shiva10(1-16) FLAK 54 50 74 15 5 100 FLAK 56 51 75 5 5 50 FLAK 58 52 76 10 100 200 FLAK 72 53 77 200 100 200 FLAK 75 54 79 100 200 100 Shiva 10 55 80 10 100 100 (1-16) Ac CA(1-7)Shiva10 56 81 10 > > (1-16)-COOH Indolocidin-ac 57 91 10 > > FLAK50B 58 92 5 5 50 FLAK50I 60 94 10 > > FLAK50K 61 95 100 200 > FLAK50L 62 96 > > > Shiva-11 63 98 > > > Shiva 11[(1- 64 99 100 > > 16)ME(2-9)]- COOH FLAK 50N 65 101 10 25 100 FLAK 50O 66 102 5 10 50 FLAK 50P 67 103 10 25 100 CA(1- 68 104 10 10 200 &Hecate(11/23) PYL-ME 69 105 200 200 > FLAG26-D1 70 106 100 25 100 Vishnu3 71 107 > > > Melittin 72 108 5 > 25 FLAK26-D2 73 109 > 200 200 FLAG26-D3 74 110 > 200 200 FLAK50 Q1 75 111 5 100 200 FLAK50 Q2 76 112 50 200 100 FLAK50 Q3 77 113 10 200 200 FLAK50 Q4 78 114 50 15 100 FLAK50 Q5 79 117 100 200 200 FLAK50 Q6 80 118 10 100 100 FLAK50 Q7 81 119 50 25 50 FLAK50 Q8 82 120 50 200 200 FLAK50 Q9 83 121 50 > 100 FLAK50 T1 85 123 50 200 100 FLAK50 T2 86 124 5 100 100 FLAK50 T3 87 125 10 100 50 FLAK50 T4 88 126 > > > FLAK50 T5 89 127 100 25 100 FLAK90 90 128 > 100 200 FLAK91 91 129 100 25 100 FLAK92 92 130 200 200 200 FLAK93 93 131 25 10 100 FLAK50 Z1 94 132 > 100 > FLAK50 Z2 95 133 > > > FLAK50 Z3 96 134 100 > 200 FLAK50 Z4 97 135 15 10 50 FLAK50 Z5 98 136 100 50 100 FLAK50 Z6 99 137 > > > FLAK50 Z7 100 138 > > > FLAK50 Z8 101 139 50 25 200 FLAK50 Z9 102 140 > > > FLAK94 103 141 15 50 200 FLAK93B 104 142 100 50 100 FLAK50 Z10 105 143 100 50 200 FLAK96 106 144 5 50 50 FLAK97 107 145 200 100 200 FLAK98 108 146 10 10 50 FKRLA 109 147 5 5 200 FLAK91B 110 148 > 200 200 FLAK92B 111 149 50 100 200 FLAK99 112 150 100 10 > FLAK50T6 113 151 > > 200 FLAK50T7 114 152 100 50 100 FLAK95 115 153 5 25 100 FLAK50T8 116 154 100 100 50 FLAK50T9 117 155 > > > FLAK100-CO2H 118 156 15 > > FAGVL 119 157 200 > > FLAK120 126 165 10 25 25 FLAK121 127 166 > > > FLAK96B 128 167 10 25 100 FLAK96G 129 168 50 100 > FLAK96F 130 169 100 100 100 FLAK96C 131 170 200 100 100 FLAK96D 132 171 25 50 100 FLAK 96 137 176 > > > FLAK 96J 139 178 200 100 > FLAK 96L 140 179 50 50 100 FLAK-120G 141 180 200 > > FLAK-120D 142 181 100 200 100 FLAK-120C 143 182 > > > FLAK-120B 144 183 200 100 200 FLAK-120F 145 184 25 100 100 FLAK 50M 165 97 5 50 50 > indicates greater than 200 μg/mL; ND = not determined.

The following Table 3 describes describes the antimicrobial properties of the peptides measured as minimum bactericidal or minimum fungicidal (Candida) concentrations. MBC or MFC values are in μg/mL. E. coli is Escherichia coli ATCC number 25922; P. aerug is Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC accession number 27853, S. aur. is Stapholococcus aureus ATCC accession number 25923; Candida is Candidia albicans ATCC accession number 10231.

TABLE 3 E. coli P. aerug S. aur Candida SEQ ID NO: P # A.25922 A.27853 A.25923 A.10231 1  1 25 30 25 >50 2  2 25 10 25 >50 3  5 50 >60 40 ND 4  11 40 25 25 >50 5  12 50 >60 75 ND 6  13 8 15 30 >50 8  23 15 25 30 >50 9  24 >80 30 >40 >50 10  25 40 30 40 >50 11  26 >80 >40 >40 >50 12  27 10 8 8 >50 13   27B 40 10 >40 >40 14   27C 10 4 >40 >40 15  30 10 15 40 >50 16  34 15 15 40 >40 17  35 8 8 10 >40 18  36 30 15 10 >40 19  37 8 8 40 >50 20  38 15 30 15 ND 21  39 >40 >40 >40 ND 22  40 30 40 >40 ND 23  41 40 40 40 ND 24  42 10 30 10 ND 25  43 8 15 4 15 26  44 10 55 30 >50 27  45 30 40 80 >50 29  47 >50 >50 >50 >50 30  48 8 25 4 10 31  49 40 30 50 30 32  50 50 25 25 >50 33  53 15 15 10 30 34  54 15 40 15 30 35  55 4 10 4 25 36  56 50 10 55 30 37  57 >50 >50 >50 >50 38  58 >50 >50 >50 >50 39  59 >50 >50 >50 >50 40  60 >50 >50 >50 >50 41  61 4 50 >80 >40 42  63 10 50 15 60 43  64 10 30 4 >50 44  65 >55 >50 >55 >50 45  66 40 50 30 40 46  70 40 30 40 >50 47  71 50 40 >50 >50 48  72 >50 40 >50 >50 50  74 >55 50 >55 >55 51  75 40 30 >55 30 52  76 40 >55 >55 >50 53  77 >50 >50 >50 >50 54  79 >50 >50 >50 >50 55  80 30 15 >50 >50 58  92 40 25 15 25 59  93 >50 >50 >50 >50 60  94 >50 >50 >50 >50 61  95 >50 >50 >50 >50 62  96 >50 >50 >50 >50 65 101 300 >50 >50 40 66 102 25 30 25 15 67 103 30 30 >50 25 69 105 25 >50 ND >50 70 106 50 >50 ND >50 71 107 ND >50 >50 >50 72 108 >50 >50 25 >50 73 109 ND ND 80 >50 74 110 8 >50 >50 >50 75 111 30 ND 40 INACT 76 112 30 INACT INACT INACT 77 113 INACT INACT INACT 40 79 117 INACT INACT INACT INACT 80 118 8 25 10 25 81 119 15 30 4 25 82 120 INACT INACT INACT INACT 83 121 INACT INACT INACT 50 84 122 30 30 25 15 85 123 40 INACT INACT 25 86 124 10 40 8 15 87 125 40 40 INACT 40 88 126 INACT INACT INACT INACT 89 127 INACT INACT INACT INACT 90 128 INACT INACT INACT INACT 91 129 INACT INACT INACT INACT 92 130 INACT INACT INACT INACT 93 131 INACT INACT INACT INACT 94 132 INACT INACT INACT INACT 95 133 INACT INACT INACT INACT 96 134 INACT INACT INACT INACT 97 135 INACT 40 INACT 25 98 136 INACT INACT INACT INACT 99 137 INACT INACT INACT INACT 100 138 INACT INACT INACT INACT 101 139 INACT INACT INACT INACT 102 140 INACT INACT INACT INACT 103 141 INACT INACT INACT INACT 104 142 INACT INACT INACT INACT 105 143 INACT INACT INACT INACT 106 144 10 25 25 25 107 145 INACT INACT INACT 100 108 146 10 >250 75 10 109 147 25 75 >250 >250 110 148 150 >250 >250 100 111 149 150 >250 >250 100 112 150 75 >250 >250 50 113 151 >250 >250 >250 100 114 152 150 150 >250 50 115 153 10 25 5 25 116 154 50 100 >250 25 117 155 >250 >250 >250 >250 118 156 100 >250 >250 >250 119 157 75 >250 >250 >250 120 159 10 10 >250 50 121 160 >250 >250 >250 >250 122 161 150 >250 >250 25 123 162 50 >250 >250 100 124 163 25 50 25 25 125 164 25 25 25 25 126 165 10 25 25 10 127 166 >250 >250 >250 >250 128 167 25 >250 10 25 129 168 75 100 >250 150 130 169 200 >250 >250 75 131 170 25 >250 150 25 132 171 75 100 >250 50 133 172 >250 >250 >250 >250 134 173 >250 >250 >250 150 162  67 25 30 30 >50 165  97 25 >50 25 25 INACT refers to no detectable activity. ND indicates no data available.

Example 2

Anti-cancer Assays

Cancer cell assays were performed in a manner similar to the anti-microbial assays described above, except that the assay procedure used the MTT dye protocol. Viability of cells is determined by the dye response. In the following procedure, approximately 1.5×10⁴ cells per well were added and viability was determined with the cells in a semi-confluent state. The assay was performed in a 96-well microtiter plate. After addition of peptide, the plate was set for 24 hours. MTT (5 mg/ml in phenol red-free RPMI-1640, 20 μl) was added to each well including positive control wells untreated with peptide. The plate was incubated at 37° C. for 4 hours. The liquid contents of each well was removed, and isopropanol with 0.1 M HCl (100 μl) was added to each well. The plate was sealed with parafilm to prevent evaporation of the isopropanol. The plate is allowed to rest for 5-10 minutes in order to solubilize the precipitate. Purified water (100 μl) was added to each well. Aborbance was determined with an ELISA Reader instrument. Color intensity at 540 nm proportional to viability of cells. Results for each concentration of peptide are plotted relative to untreated controls, and LD50 values are determined from the graphs.

W138 (ATCC No. CCL75) is a normal fibroblast line of lung diploid cells, MCF7 (ATCC No. HTB22) is a breast adenocarcinoma tumor cell line, SW480 (ATCC No. CCL228) is a colon adenocarcinoma tumor cell line, BMKC is a cloned melanoma line derived from Bowes melanoma line HMCB (ATCC No. CRL9607), H1299 (ATCC No. CRL5803) is a lung large cell carcinoma tumor line, HeLaS3 (ATCC No. CCL2.2) is a cervical epitheleal carcinoma tumor cell line, and PC3 (ATCC No. CRL1435) is a prostate adenocarcinoma tumor cell line. Numbers are LD₅₀ values (μg/mL). Data on the six targets are presented in the following Tables 4 and 5.

TABLE 4 SEQ ID P Name NO: No. WI38 MCF7 SW480 BMKC HECATE AC 1  1 27 54 6 72 HECATE AM 2  2 66 23 46 128 SB37COOH 3  5 130 175 82 120 SB-37 AM 5  12 950 540 > > SHIVA 10 AC 6  13 57 > ND ND FLAK01 AM 8  23 34 62 5 27 FLAK03 AM 9  24 55 26 38 85 FLAK04 AM 10  25 24 10 12 36 FLAK05 AM 11  26 96 74 8 94 FLAK06 AM 12  27 37 14 26 44 FLAK06 AC 13   27B 101 65 59 93 FLAK06 R-AC 14   27C 520 140 210 300 KAL V 15  30 93 72 62 140 FLAK 17 AM 16  34 40 21 35 53 FLAK 26 AM 17  35 8 9 14 7 FLAK 25 AM 18  36 19 9 30 56 HECATE 2DAc 19  37 80 14 57 150 FLAK43 AM 20  38 12 17 13 21 FLAK44 AM 21  39 300 130 435 510 FLAK62 AM 22  40 > 760 > > FLAK 06R-AM 23  41 175 98 120 290 MSI-78 AM 24  42 67 31 34 140 FLAK50 25  43 5 9 9 7 FLAK51 26  44 36 140 32 47 FLAK57 27  45 200 260 180 160 FLAK71 28  46 200 300 160 150 FLAK77 29  47 > 575 > 700 FLAK50V 30  48 41 23 47 43 FLAK50F 31  49 135 40 100 115 FLAK26V AM 32  50 43 32 46 40 CAME-15 33  53 32 45 40 FLAK50C 34  54 97 60 90 FLAK50D 35  55 32 16 14 16 FLAK 50E 36  56 250 500 215 205 FLAK80 37  57 900 > 740 740 FLAK81 38  58 > > > > FLAK82 39  59 77 31 42 155 FLAK83M 40  60 > > > > FLAK 26 Ac 41  61 93 105 100 140 INDOLICIDIN 42  63 ND 64 345 200 FLAK 17 C 43  64 37 80 35 FLAK 50H 44  65 320 475 345 250 FLAK 50G 45  66 240 90 145 200 SHIV A DERIV 46  70 34 44 11 94 P69 + KWKL SHIVA 10 47  71 355 190 250 445 (1-18_AC SHIVA 10 48  72 125 93 82 290 PEPTIDE 71 + KWKL CA(1-7) 49  73 160 150 70 360 Shiva10(1-16) FLAK 54 50  74 335 465 340 460 FLAK 56 51  75 80 42 17 24 FLAK 58 52  76 445 970 400 750 FLAK 72 53  77 > > > 125 FLAK 75 54  79 > 540 > 830 SHIVA 10 55  80 28 29 35 76 (1-16) Ac CA(1-7) 56  81 8 63 13 12 Shiva10(1-16)- COOH INDOLOCIDIN-ac 57  91 9 12 30 180 FLAK50B 58  92 43 23 51 46 FLAK50I 60  94 6 65 ND 11 FLAK50K 61  95 250 > > 820 FLAK50L 62  96 > > > > Shiva-11 63  98 47 96 125 94 SHIVA 11 64  99 34 95 120 94 [(1-16) ME(2-9]- COOH FLAK 50N 65 101 300 250 170 160 FLAK 50O 66 102 73 60 57 60 FLAK 50P 67 103 26 46 90 75 CA(1- 68 104 24 11 54 100 &HECATE(11/23) PYL-ME 69 105 430 635 > ND FLAG26-D1 70 106 > 620 570 690 VISHNU3 71 107 > > > > MELITTIIN 72 108 16 9 23 18 FLAK26-D2 73 109 > > > > FLAG26-D3 74 110 45 180 325 400 FLAK50 Q1 75 111 24 35 27 26 FLAK50 Q2 76 112 420 500 800 445 FLAK50 Q3 77 113 170 150 180 115 FLAK50 Q4 78 114 > 730 > > FLAK50 Q5 79 117 > > > > FLAK50 Q6 80 118 170 70 115 135 FLAK50 Q7 81 119 45 54 46 36 FLAK50 Q8 82 120 600 730 630 660 FLAK50 Q9 83 121 625 400 800 670 FLAK50 Q10 84 122 720 360 570 700 FLAK50 T1 85 123 600 615 > 635 FLAK50 T2 86 124 21 18 9 10 FLAK50 T3 87 125 90 90 125 220 FLAK50 T4 88 126 > > > > FLAK50 T5 89 127 760 440 400 535 FLAK90 90 128 500 500 530 330 FLAK91 91 129 > > 550 > FLAK92 92 130 > > > > FLAK93 93 131 > 600 555 > FLAK50 Z1 94 132 > > > > FLAK50 Z2 95 133 > > > > FLAK50 Z3 96 134 > > 740 > FLAK50 Z4 97 135 110 54 80 155 FLAK50 Z5 98 136 > 500 600 530 FLAK50 Z6 99 137 > > > > FLAK50 Z7 100 138 > > > > FLAK50 Z8 101 139 550 625 > 525 FLAK50 Z9 102 140 > > > > FLAK94 103 141 420 430 560 465 FLAK93B 104 142 73 44 38 38 FLAK50 Z10 105 143 > > > > FLAK96 106 144 750 150 285 250 FLAK97 107 145 > > > > FLAK98 108 146 270 110 380 185 FKRLA 109 147 83 106 185 110 FLAK91B 110 148 380 315 > 330 FLAK92B 111 149 > > > > FLAK99 112 150 125 160 235 190 FLAK50T6 113 151 > > > > FLAK50T7 114 152 620 430 740 > FLAK95 115 153 130 64 61 165 FLAK50T8 116 154 600 315 750 330 FLAK50T9 117 155 > > > > FLAK100-CO2H 118 156 230 135 345 520 FAGVL 119 157 500 240 530 600 Modelin-5 120 159 82 61 140 140 Modelin-5-CO2H 121 160 700 320 370 220 FLAK120 126 165 470 360 240 240 FLAK121 127 166 > > > > FLAK96B 128 167 260 230 360 240 FLAK96G 129 168 > 630 > 590 FLAK96F 130 169 > 510 > 530 FLAK96C 131 170 > 940 > > FLAK96D 132 171 615 305 770 600 Modelin-8D 135 174 > > > > Modelin-8E 136 175 > > 70 > Flak 96H 137 176 > > > > Flak 96I 138 177 270 190 310 310 Flak 96J 139 178 405 770 > 640 Flak 96L 140 179 540 555 > 920 FLAK-120G 141 180 940 950 600 770 FLAK-120D 142 181 500 550 870 830 FLAK-120C 143 182 > > > > FLAK-120B 144 183 > > > > FLAK-120F 145 184 800 260 440 600 Magainin2wisc 146 300 52 22 60 130 D2A21 147 301 66 64 76 140 KSL-1 148 302 800 340 > 700 KSL-7 149 303 355 315 530 330 LSB-37 150 306 320 50 240 170 Anubis-2 151 307 75 38 73 83 FLAK 17 CV 152 501 26 23 ND ND FLAK50 Q1V 153 502 64 92 ND ND D2A21V 154 503 150 210 ND ND FLAK 25 AM V 155 504 110 130 ND ND FLAK43 AM V 156 505 85 86 ND ND FLAK50D V 157 506 75 45 ND ND HECATE AM V 158 507 285 340 ND ND HECATE AC V 159 508 190 160 ND ND FLAK04 AM V 160 509 95 84 ND ND 03 AM V 161 510 77 62 ND ND 162  67 4 7 ND ND 163 100 95 175 82 120 164  69 101 45 63 66 Note: > indicates greater than 1000; ND indicates not determined; numbers are in μg/mL.

TABLE 5 SEQ ID P Name NO: No. WI38 H1299 HeLaS3 PC3 HECATE AC 1  1 27 44 95 61 HECATE AM 2  2 66 140 50 44 SB37COOH 3  5 130 220 150 ND SB-37 AM 5  12 950 720 > 630 SHIVA 10 AC 6  13 57 > > 83 FLAK01 AM 8  23 34 64 82 41 FLAK03 AM 9  24 55 72 145 38 FLAK04 AM 10  25 24 37 20 12 FLAK05 AM 11  26 96 84 150 125 FLAK06 AM 12  27 37 16 25 8 FLAK06 AC 13   27B 101 54 80 16 FLAK06 AM 14   27C 520 170 260 280 KAL V 15  30 93 125 190 65 FLAK 17 AM 16  34 40 24 62 9 FLAK 26 AM 17  35 8 16 27 5 FLAK 25 AM 18  36 19 57 ND 19 HECATE 2DAc 19  37 80 150 ND 64 FLAK43 AM 20  38 12 33 35 10 FLAK44 AM 21  39 300 420 620 310 FLAK62 AM 22  40 > > > 435 FLAK 06R-AM 23  41 175 245 185 140 MSI-78 AM 24  42 67 150 ND 66 FLAK50 25  43 5 6 15 12 FLAK51 26  44 36 72 22 45 FLAK57 27  45 200 330 160 170 FLAK71 28  46 200 290 280 280 FLAK77 29  47 > > > > FLAK50V 30  48 41 17 44 32 FLAK50F 31  49 135 140 ND 77 FLAK26V AM 32  50 43 7 33 54 CAME-15 33  53 32 65 30 40 FLAK50C 34  54 97 80 190 90 FLAK50D 35  55 32 7 15 47 FLAK 50E 36  56 250 370 300 435 FLAK80 37  57 900 > 830 > FLAK81 38  58 > > > > FLAK82 39  59 77 180 ND 81 FLAK83M 40  60 > > > > FLAK 26 Ac 41  61 93 127 170 66 INDOLICIDIN 42  63 ND 270 345 290 FLAK 17 C 43  64 37 30 30 46 FLAK 50H 44  65 320 450 210 470 FLAK 50G 45  66 240 130 140 170 SHIVA DERIV 46  70 34 63 28 82 P69 + KWKL SHIVA 10 47  71 355 320 570 270 (1-18_AC SHIVA 10 48  72 125 160 240 63 PEPTIDE 71 + KWKL CA(1-7) 49  73 160 115 270 97 Shiva10(1-16) FLAK 54 50  74 335 670 260 660 FLAK 56 51  75 80 80 74 54 FLAK 58 52  76 445 860 380 675 FLAK 72 53  77 > > > > FLAK 75 54  79 > > > > SHIVA 10 55  80 28 64 97 28 (1-16) Ac CA(1-7) 56  81 8 22 19 170 Shiva10(1-16)- COOH Indolocidin-ac 57  91 9 64 20 31 FLAK50B 58  92 43 25 670 83 FLAK50J 59  93 530 320 > 690 FLAK50I 60  94 6 ND > ND FLAK50K 61  95 250 > > > FLAK50L 62  96 > > > > Shiva-11 63  98 47 53 175 52 SHIVA 11 64  99 34 54 180 28 [(1-16) ME(2-9]- COOH FLAK 50N 65 101 300 340 170 730 FLAK 50O 66 102 73 27 43 66 FLAK 50P 67 103 26 150 70 330 CA(1- 68 104 24 52 130 18 &HECATE(11/23) PYL-ME 69 105 430 > > ND FLAG26-D1 70 106 > 920 700 > VISHNU3 71 107 > > > > MELITTIIN 72 108 16 25 35 13 FLAK26-D2 73 109 > > > > FLAG26-D3 74 110 45 95 540 > FLAK50 Q1 75 111 24 8 7 11 FLAK50 Q2 76 112 420 470 660 640 FLAK50 Q3 77 113 170 50 190 240 FLAK50 Q4 78 114 > > > > FLAK50 Q5 79 117 > > > > FLAK50 Q6 80 118 170 74 87 330 FLAK50 Q7 81 119 45 33 30 140 FLAK50 Q8 82 120 600 620 810 > FLAK50 Q9 83 121 625 460 830 > FLAK50 Q10 84 122 720 830 780 800 FLAK50 T1 85 123 600 > 940 > FLAK50 T2 86 124 21 30 14 10 FLAK50 T3 87 125 90 76 220 145 FLAK50 T4 88 126 > > > > FLAK50 T5 89 127 760 770 610 > FLAK90 90 128 500 > 700 > FLAK91 91 129 > 790 550 > FLAK92 92 130 > > > > FLAK93 93 131 > > > > FLAK50 Z1 94 132 > > > > FLAK50 Z2 95 133 > > > > FLAK50 Z3 96 134 > > > > FLAK50 Z4 97 135 110 115 215 310 FLAK50 Z5 98 136 > 450 400 900 FLAK50 Z6 99 137 > > > > FLAK50 Z7 100 138 > > > > FLAK50 Z8 101 139 550 850 > > FLAK50 Z9 102 140 > > 285 > FLAK94 103 141 420 > > ND FLAK93B 104 142 73 115 55 60 FLAK50 Z10 105 143 > > > > FLAK96 106 144 750 225 275 350 FLAK97 107 145 > > 240 > FLAK98 108 146 270 93 640 440 FKRLA 109 147 83 93 > 340 FLAK91B 110 148 380 660 > > FLAK92B 111 149 > > > > FLAK99 112 150 125 185 320 74 FLAK50T6 113 151 > > > > FLAK50T7 114 152 620 410 > > FLAK95 115 153 130 50 140 97 FLAK50T8 116 154 600 400 > 640 FLAK50T9 117 155 > > > ND FLAK100-CO2H 118 156 230 ND > 260 FAGVL 119 157 500 315 > 375 Modelin-5 120 159 82 74 275 145 Modelin-5-CO2H 121 160 700 470 550 450 FLAK120 126 165 470 56 400 340 FLAK121 127 166 > > > > FLAK96B 128 167 260 300 325 320 FLAK96G 129 168 > > > > FLAK96F 130 169 > 640 > > FLAK96C 131 170 > > > > FLAK96D 132 171 615 540 820 600 Modelin-8D 135 174 > > > > Modelin-8E 136 175 > > 510 > Flak 96H 137 176 > > > > Flak 96I 138 177 270 240 380 120 Flak 96J 139 178 405 > > > Flak 96L 140 179 540 > > > FLAK-120G 141 180 940 > 760 > FLAK-120D 142 181 500 > > > FLAK-120C 143 182 > > > > FLAK-120B 144 183 > > > > FLAK-120F 145 184 800 370 302 570 Magainin2wisc 146 300 52 60 125 45 D2A21 147 301 66 77 170 45 KSL-1 148 302 800 720 > > KSL-7 149 303 355 345 > 530 LSB-37 150 306 320 120 250 370 Anubis-2 151 307 75 160 100 66 163 100 95 220 150 ND 164  69 101 71 190 81 Note: > indicates greater than 1000; ND indicates not determined; numbers are in μg/mL.

It can be seen from Tables 4 and 5 that all targets challenged were inhibited by one or more of the peptides to an appreciable extent (i.e. LD50 less than 50 μg/ml). Table 6 below shows that 44 (29%) of the 150 peptides tested were active with some LD50 values at or below 50; 26 of the peptides were active on some targets at or below the LD50 value of 25; and 16 peptides were very active on one or more target strains with LD50 values at or below 10.

Table 7 below shows a broad spectrum of activity against six cancer cell types for various active peptides. It is noted that each target has one or more lead candidate peptides inhibitory to cell growth at an LD50 level of 10 or less.

TABLE 6 FLAK peptides showing substantial activity against cancer cell lines Percent of 150 LD50 values Number of “active” peptides peptides tested < or = 50 μg/ml 44 29% < or = 25 μg/ml 26 17% < or = 10 μg/ml 16 11%

TABLE 7 Activity and specificity of FLAK peptides against six cancer cell targets Number of active peptides per target MCF7 SW480 BMKC H1299 HeLaS3 PC3 LD50 (breast) (colon) (melanoma) (lung) (cervix) (prostate) < or = 50 μg/ml 31 25 19 19 17 20 < or = 25 μg/ml 17 13 8 10 8 11 < or = 10 μg/ml 6 5 3 4 1 5

Example 3

Stimulation and Proliferation of Leukocytes

In vitro viability of human leukocyte cells in the presence of different peptides at different concentrations was determined by an Alamar Blue protocol. Alamar Blue (Promega, Madison, Wis.) is an indicator dye, formulated to measure quantitatively the proliferation and cytotoxicity of the cells. The dye consists of an oxidation-reduction (redox) indicator that yields a calorimetric change and a fluorescent signal in response to cellular metabolic activity.

Assay protocol: Blood from a 50 year old male human was drawn and centrifuged at 1500 rpm for 15 minutes at room temperature. The buffy coat cells at the plasma-red blood cell interface were aspirated. Buffy coat cells (mainly lymphocyte cells) were then transferred into 15 ml centrifuge tubes containing 5 ml of RPMI-1640 medium+10% is Fetal Bovine Serum (Gibco, Grand Island, N.Y.). Additional medium was added to the tubes to bring the volume up to 10 ml. The buffy coat suspension was then carefully layered on 5 ml of Histopaque (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo.) and centrifuged at 1500 rpm for 30 minutes at room temperature. The interface which is mostly PBMCs (peripheral mononuclear cells) was aspirated and transferred to a 15 ml conical centrifuge tube and, resuspended in 2 ml cold RPMI-1640 and brought up to 15 ml with cold RPMI-1640 medium. Cells were centrifuged at 1500 rpm for 10 minutes. The supernatant was then aspirated and discarded. The cell pellet was re-suspended in 1 ml of cold RPMI 1640 and brought up to 15 ml with RPMI medium. This step was repeated twice, except that in the last step, the cells were resuspended with 1 ml of cold RPMI-1640 medium and cell counts were performed with a hemocytometer according to the Sigma cell culture catalogue.

Pokewood mitogen was used as a control along with positive and negative controls. Negative control cells were killed with 70% methanol. Positive (+) control cells were incubated in RPMI medium (untreated). 20 ml of AlamarBlue was added to the cells, and readings were taken after 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and 96 hours using a fluorimeter (excitation 544/transmission 590 nm).

Calculations were performed using the following formula: ${\%\quad{treated}\quad{cell}\quad{viability}} = {\frac{{Peptide}\quad{treated}\quad{sample}\quad\left( {{{adj}.\quad{for}}\quad{negative}\quad{control}} \right)}{{Positive}\quad{control}\quad\left( {{{adj}.\quad{for}}\quad{negative}\quad{control}} \right)} \times 100\%}$

Using the protocol described immediately above, about 100-150 peptides were screened for their stimulatory and/or inhibitory actions upon the growth of human leukocyte (“WBC”) cells as compared to the growth of untreated positive control cells. The data in Table 8 below show that various selected FLAK peptides are stimulatory at low concentrations (0.1 to 1.0 μg/ml), whereas certain of the peptides become inhibitory (causing cell death) at higher concentrations. Several of the peptides (i.e. SEQ ID NOS: 5, 143, and 160) are stimulatory (and/or proliferative) at all concentrations through 500 μg/ml.

The Alamar Blue stain used in the protocol permeates both cell and nuclear membranes, and is metabolized in the mitochondria to cause the change in color. The resulting fluorometric response is therefore a result of total mitochondrial activity caused by cell stimulation and/or mitosis (cell proliferation). The increase in values (for treated cells, as a percent of values for untreated cells) with increased incubation time (120 hours vs. 48 hours) may be attributed to increased cell proliferation in addition to stimulation of cell metabolic activity caused by the peptide

Table 8 presents viability data, as percent of untreated positive control, for human leukocytes (white blood cells, “WBC”) in the presence of selected FLAK peptides. The table also shows for each of these peptides its toxicity (LD50 values) to human red blood cells (RBC) and to human fibroblast cells (WI38). Those certain peptides which are stimulatory to WBCs at low peptide concentrations (i.e. 10 μg/ml or less) and are inhibitory or toxic to WBCs at higher concentrations are also relatively more toxic to RBCs and to fibroblasts than those peptides which are stimulatory and not inhibitory to WBC growth even at concentrations as high as 500 μg/ml.

In limited experiments with other than the Alamar Blue protocol described above, it has been qualitatively determined that those peptides which cause stimulation and proliferation of leukocytes are active upon both the phagocytic and lyphocyte cell components of the mammalian lymphatic system. As such, certain of the stimulatory FLAK peptides which are relatively non-toxic to mammalian cells at therapeutic dose levels may be used as immunomodulators to treat humans or other mammals with compromised immune systems. Such treatment may be administered systemically in vivo or by extra-corporeal treatment of whole blood or blood components to be reinfused to the donor. Such therapy would serve to counteract immune deficiency in neutropenic patients caused by age, disease, or chemotherapy and would stimulate natural immune responses to prevent or combat pathogenic infections and growth of certain cancer cell lines or to enhance wound healing processes involving the lymphoid system. Table 9 is a more detailed example (with one peptide, SEQ ID NO:10) of the phenomenon showing the relationships of concentration and time as they effect stimulation, proliferation, and inhibition of the leukocytes.

TABLE 8 Human leukocyte (WBC) stimulation/proliferation & inhibition by selected FLAK peptides 0.1 Peptide 0.1 μg/ml 1 μg/ml 10 μg/ml SEQ ID conc. μg/ml 120 1 μg/ml 120 10 μg/ml 120 NO: P Number 48 hours hours 48 hours hours 48 hours hours 5 12 111 124 115 136 118 141 10 25 117 135 104 118 99 119 12 27 108 117 110 126 99 114 17 35 115 113 119 105 114 81 20 38 115 110 119 117 114 109 25 43 115 100 119 114 114 104 58 92 112 120 112 114 98 99 66 102 100 89 102 90 97 110 143 182 101 134 96 117 101 133 150 306 97 94 101 113 94 109 100 500 Peptide 100 μg/ml 500 μg/ml RBC WI-38 SEQ ID conc. μg/ml 120 μg/ml 120 toxicity toxicity NO: P Number 48 hours hours 48 hours hours LD50 LD50 5 12 116 151 101 119 >1000 950 10 25 27 43 27 45 60 24 12 27 30 43 23 39 125 37 17 35 73 42 72 43 200 8 20 38 73 60 72 57 350 12 25 43 73 39 72 37 20 5 58 92 35 30 26 26 300 125 66 102 37 32 17 15 300 73 143 182 109 150 105 132 >1000 660 150 306 109 140 112 140 >1000 320

TABLE 9 Human leukocyte (WBC) stimulation/proliferation and inhibition by FLAK peptide SEQ ID NO: 10 (P25) Time of 0.1 1 10 100 500 incubation μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml 24 hours 111 98 88 10 10 48 hours 117 104 99 27 27 72 hours 119 105 102 31 32 96 hours 128 112 110 38 40 120 hours  135 118 119 43 45 Note: Number values are percent cell viability relative to control cells.

Example 4

Stimulation and Proliferation of Fibroblasts

The cyQUANT cell proliferation assay provides a convenient, rapid and sensitive procedure for determining the density of cells in culture. The assay has a linear detection range extending from 50 or fewer to at least 50,000 cells in 200 μl volumes using a single dye concentration. The assay is ideal for cell proliferation studies as well as for routine cell counts and can be used to monitor the adherence of cells to surfaces.

Procedure: Different cell lines were maintained with different medium according to the ATCC. Cells were trypsinized with 8 ml of Trypsin (0.25%, Fisher, Pittsburgh, Pa.). The cell suspension was centrifuged for 10 minutes at 100 rpm. The supernatant was removed and discarded without disturbing the cell pellet. A concentrated cell suspension was prepared in 1.0 ml of medium to obtain a density of about 10⁵ to 10⁶ cells/ml. The actual cell density was determined by counting the cells using a hemocytometer with the Trypan Blue method. Cell numbers were adjusted to obtain equal number of cells per 200 μl volume. Cells were plated with 0% FBS, 2.5% FBS, 5% FBS and 10% FBS. The plates were incubated at 37° C. for a time sufficient to allow the cells to attach. For long-term proliferation studies, 100 μl of medium was removed from each well each day and replaced with fresh medium.

At the desired time, the medium was removed from the adherent cells in a 96 well plate. These cells were already treated with test agents. The cells were frozen in the plate at −70° C. for 30 minutes. The cells were thawed at room temperature. CyQuant GR dry/Cell Lysis Buffer (200 μl) was added to each sample cell. The cells were incubated at room temperature for 15 minutes while protected from the light. Fluorescence was measured using fmax at 485-538 nm.

The above CyQuant protocol was used to examine possible peptide stimulation of fibroblasts. In the following Table 10, data are shown for selected peptides demonstrating their effect on human fibroblast cells (WI38). In the table, the substantial stimulatory and/or proliferative property of selected peptides, as a function of concentration is evident. The values are viability of treated cells expressed as percent (%) above or below positive control (untreated cells). Table 11 shows that the fibroblast stimulation and/or proliferation effect is enhanced for certain peptides in the presence of other growth factors. This is shown by the addition of Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) to the medium. Negative values indicate inhibitory action of the peptide, especially at concentrations above 10 μg/ml.

TABLE 10 Human fibroblast (WI-38) cell stimulation by selected FLAK peptides Peptide concentration SEQ ID P % FBS in 0.1 1 10 100 NO: Number serum μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml 2  2 0 −27 −3 27 −82 2.5 26 57 23 −66 4 11 0 19 34 50 −40 2.5 50 52 62 14 6 13 0 76 68 93 95 8 23 0 21 78 10 −48 2.5 16 23 58 75 10 25 0 50 59 29 −27 14   27C 0 60 85 90 63 15 30 0 60 75 20 35 17 35 0 45 70 65 50 20 38 0 44 22 75 53 35 55 0 1 12 30 76 5 12 0 (24 h inc) 93 90 116 65 58 92 0 (24 h inc) 109 114 132 36 71 107  0 18 27 26 24 80 118  0 12 −4 −7 −1 0 (24 h inc) 24 55 48 24 3 61 70 68 72 126 165  0 51 77 115 50 Note: Number values are percent cell viability above or below control. Incubations were 48 hours unless otherwise indicated. SEQ ID NOS: 5 and 71 are not FLAK peptides.

TABLE 11 Effect of growth factors on human fibroblast (WI38) cell stimulation Peptide concentration SEQ ID P % FBS in 0.1 1 10 100 NO: Number serum μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml 2 2 0 −27 −3 27 −82 2.5 26 57 23 −66 4 11 0 19 34 50 −40 2.5 50 52 62 14 8 23 0 21 78 10 −48 2.5 16 23 58 75 80 118 0 12 −4 −7 −1 3 61 70 68 72 Note: Number values are percent cell viability above or below control.

Example 5

Toxicity Assay—Red Blood Cell (RBC) Hemolysis, and Leukocyte (WBC) and Fibroblast (WI38) Inhibition

Table 12 below summarizes the RBC, WBC, and WI38 toxicity data for typical FLAK peptides. The three RBC, WBC, and WI38 values (LD50) are generally consistent directional indicators of peptide toxicity. In choosing a peptide for possible treatment of a given indication it is important to match the therapeutic activity and specificity of the peptide with its possible toxic properties. The SEQ ID NO:5 peptide is not a FLAK peptide, but rather it is SB-37, a close homolog of Cecropin B. It has previously been shown not to be as active as the FLAK peptides as an antibacterial agent, but to possess wound healing properties as demonstrated in vivo in a rat model. This probably results from its stimulatory and proliferative effects on both mammalian leukocytes and fibroblasts.

The protocols for WBC and WI38 stimulation have been discussed above. The RBC protocol follows Table 12.

TABLE 12 In vitro toxicity of selected FLAK peptides on red blood cells (RBC), human leukocytes (WBC), and human fibroblasts (WI38) RBC LD50 WBC LD50 WI38 LD50 SEQ ID NO: P Number μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml 5 12 >1000 >500 60 10 25 60 79 60 11 26 900 185 100 12 27 125 78 60 16 34 200 77 200 17 35 200 64 25 20 38 350 160 100 25 43 20 70 25 30 48 130 78 70 35 55 30 80 28 58 92 300 51 400 66 102 300 115 45

The RBC protocol is as follows. Well positions of each dilution and untreated controls are recorded on the lid of a 96-well plate. When the cells were confluent, the media is removed, and replaced with freshly prepared sample dilutions to a final volume of 200 μl. Test agent was added into designed wells of the 96-well plate. The 200 μl fresh medium was added to positive control wells; and 200 μl of 70% ethanol was added to negative control wells. The plate was incubated overnight at 37° C., 5% CO₂, and at least 90% humidity. Room temperature AlamarBlue solution (20 μl) was added to all wells. The plates were read spectrofluorometrically (excitation 544 nm, emission 590 nm). The plates were incubated for 3 hours at 37° C., 5% CO₂, and at least 90% humidity. The plates were read again at 3 and 24 hours incubation. The LD50 endpoint was determined from the graph by reading from where the 50 percent point intercepts the Dose Response Curve to the concentration along the x-axis. That concentration is the LD50 value. The LD50 value for test agents within a single test agent class can be used to rank-order their relative toxicities or to correlate with in vivo data.

This hemolytic assay is based upon that presented in Journal of Peptide Research 53: 82-90 (1999). Preparation of all media, stock solutions and dilutions were performed in a laminar flow hood to minimize or prevent contamination. All procedures were performed according to safety protocols pertaining to the handling and disposal of human body fluids.

Red blood cells (RBCs) were washed three times with PBS (35 mM phosphate buffer 0.15 M NaCl, pH 7.0). RBCs suspended in PBS (0.4% (v/v); about 10 ml per 15 peptides) were prepared. Suspensions (100 μl) were aliquoted to each sample and control tube. Serially diluted peptide solutions (100 μl) were pipetted into the sample tubes. Negative control tubes contained 100 μl PBS; positive control tubes contained 100 μl 1% Triton-X100 detergent. All tubes were incubated for 1 hour at 37° C. The tubes were removed from the incubator and centrifuged at 1000 g for 5 minutes. Supernatant (100 μl) was pipetted to a 96-well polyvinyl chloride plate. The absorbance at 414 nm (A₄₁₄) was measured, and used to calculate the percent hemolysis according to the following formula. $\frac{\left( {{A_{414}\quad{in}\quad{peptide}\quad{solution}} - {A_{414}\quad{in}\quad{PBS}}} \right)}{\left( {{A_{414}\quad{in}\quad{Triton}\text{-}X\quad 100} - {A_{414}\quad{in}\quad{PBS}}} \right)} \times 100\%$

Percent hemolysis is plotted against peptide concentration, and the concentration at which 50% hemolysis is determined (LD₅₀). The following Table 13 details the results of the hemolytic assay using the peptides discussed herein.

TABLE 13 Peptide name SEQ ID NO: P Number LD₅₀ μg/mL Hecate AC #1010 1  1 100 Hecate AM 2  2 10 SB-37 AC #1018 3  5 > Shiva 10 AM 4  11 76 SB-37 AM 5  12 > Shiva 10 AC #1015 6  13 50 Magainin 2 7  16 550 FLAK01 AM 8  23 300 FLAK03 AM 9  24 10 FLAK04 AM 10  25 16 FLAK05 AM 11  26 90 FLAK06 AM 12  27 125 FLAK06 AC 13   27B 700 FLAK06 R-AC 14   27C 250 KALV 15  30 150 FLAK 17 AM 16  34 200 FLAK 26 AM 17  35 200 FLAK 25 AM 18  36 85 Hecate 2DAc 19  37 30 FLAK43 AM 20  38 350 FLAK44 AM 21  39 > FLAK62 AM 22  40 > FLAK 06R-AM 23  41 40 MSI-78 AM 24  42 300 FLAK50 25  43 20 FLAK51 26  44 90 FLAK57 27  45 700 FLAK71 28  46 900 FLAK77 29  47 > FLAK50V 30  48 200 FLAK50F 31  49 225 FLAK26V AM 32  50 420 CAME-15 33  53 20 FLAK50C 34  54 250 FLAK50D 35  55 20 FLAK 50E 36  56 600 FLAK80 37  57 > FLAK81 38  58 > FLAK82 39  59 1000 FLAK83M 40  60 > FLAK 26 Ac 41  61 390 Indolicidin 42  63 375 FLAK 17 C 43  64 6 FLAK 50H 44  65 950 FLAK 50G 45  66 600 Shiva deriv P69 + KWKL 46  70 80 Shiva 10 (1-18_ AC 47  71 > Shiva 10 peptide 48  72 110 71 + KWKL CA(1-7)Shiva10 49  73 90 (1-16) FLAK 54 50  74 > FLAK 56 51  75 750 FLAK 58 52  76 > FLAK 72 53  77 > FLAK 75 54  79 > Shiva 10 (1-16) Ac 55  80 900 CA(1-7)Shiva10 56  81 8 (1-16)-COOH Indolocidin-ac 57  91 40 FLAK50B 58  92 300 FLAK50J 59  93 > FLAK50I 60  94 350 FLAK50K 61  95 > FLAK50L 62  96 > Shiva-11 63  98 60 Shiva 11[(1-16)ME 64  99 25 (2-9)]-COOH FLAK 50N 65 101 550 FLAK 50O 66 102 500 FLAK 50P 67 103 650 CA(1-&Hecate(11/23) 68 104 70 PYL-ME 69 105 ND FLAG26-D1 70 106 > Vishnu3 71 107 > Melittin 72 108 <1 FLAK26-D2 73 109 > FLAG26-D3 74 110 > FLAK50 Q1 75 111 60 FLAK50 Q2 76 112 > FLAK50 Q3 77 113 1000 FLAK50 Q4 78 114 > FLAK50 Q5 79 117 > FLAK50 Q6 80 118 700 FLAK50 Q7 81 119 400 FLAK50 Q8 82 120 > FLAK50 Q9 83 121 > FLAK50 Q10 84 122 > FLAK50 T1 85 123 1000 FLAK50 T2 86 124 55 FLAK50 T3 87 125 > FLAK50 T4 88 126 > FLAK50 T5 89 127 > FLAK90 90 128 > FLAK91 91 129 > FLAK92 92 130 > FLAK93 93 131 > FLAK50 Z1 94 132 > FLAK50 Z2 95 133 > FLAK50 Z3 96 134 > FLAK50 Z4 97 135 900 FLAK50 Z5 98 136 > FLAK50 Z6 99 137 > FLAK50 Z7 100 138 20 FLAK50 Z8 101 139 > FLAK50 Z9 102 140 > FLAK94 103 141 900 FLAK93B 104 142 900 FLAK50 Z10 105 143 > FLAK96 106 144 600 FLAK97 107 145 > FLAK98 108 146 180 FKRLA 109 147 300 FLAK91B 110 148 > FLAK92B 111 149 > FLAK99 112 150 650 FLAK50T6 113 151 > FLAK50T7 114 152 880 FLAK95 115 153 800 FLAK50T8 116 154 450 FLAK50T9 117 155 > FLAK100-CO2H 118 156 10 FAGVL 119 157 850 Modelin-5 120 159 ND Modelin-5-CO2H 121 160 > FLAK120 126 165 350 FLAK121 127 166 > FLAK96B 128 167 200 FLAK96G 129 168 600 FLAK96F 130 169 > FLAK96C 131 170 > FLAK96D 132 171 550 Modelin-8D 135 174 > Modelin-8E 136 175 > Flak 96 137 176 > Flak 96I 138 177 400 Flak 96J 139 178 > Flak 96L 140 179 850 FLAK-120G 141 180 > FLAK-120D 142 181 > FLAK-120C 143 182 > FLAK-120B 144 183 > FLAK-120F 145 184 850 Magainin2wisc 146 300 250 D2A21 147 301 10 KSL-1 148 302 > KSL-7 149 303 500 LSB-37 150 306 > Anubis-2 151 307 > FLAK17CV 152 501 15 FLAK50Q1V 153 502 100 D2A21V 154 503 20 FLAK25AMV 155 504 70 FLAK43AMV 156 505 620 FLAK50DV 157 506 120 HECATE AMV 158 507 20 HECATE ACV 159 508 70 FLAK04AMV 160 509 40 FLAK03AMV 161 510 10 D-Shiva 10 AC 162  67 40 Shiva 11 AC 163 100 > Shiva 10 (1-18)AM 164  69 900 Note: > indicates greater than 1000; ND = not determined.

Example 6

Effects of Valine Substitution

Changing a peptide sequence where the first amino acid is valine, and particularly when the first amino acid is changed from phenylalanine to valine, can lead to desirable properties. The red blood cell and fibroblast cell (WI38) toxicity can be decreased, while not significantly decreasing other desirable properties. Table 14 below shows numerous examples (14) of reducing the indicated toxicity of a peptide as seen from increase in viabiltiy of both red blood cells and fibroblast cells when treated with peptide. LD50 values are in μg/ml.

TABLE 14 Hemo- SEQ. lysis ID P RBC WI-38 NO: No. Sequence LD50 LD50 2 2 FALALKALKKALKKLKKALKKAL-NH2 12 66 15 30 VALALKALKKALKKLKKALKKAL-NH2 150 93 17 35 FAKKLAKLAKKLAKLAL-NH2 150 25 32 50 VAKKLAKLAKKLAKLAL-NH2 420 45 25 43 FAKLLAKLAKKLL-NH2 20 25 30 48 VAKLLAKLAKKLL-NH2 130 160 86 124 FAKLLAKLAKKVL-NH2 55 21 116 154 VAKLLAKLAKKVL-NH2 870 110 126 165 FALALKALKKL-NH2 350 850 141 180 VALALKALKKL-NH2 850 1000 43 64 FAKALKALLKALKAL-NH2 6 37 152 501 VAKALKALLKALKAL-NH2 15 26 75 111 FAKFLAKFLKKAL-NH2 5 25 153 502 VAKFLAKFLKKAL-NH2 100 64 47 301 FAKKFAKKFKKFAKKFAKFAFAF-NH2 10 66 154 503 VAKKFAKKFKKFAKKFAKFAFAF-NH2 20 150 18 36 FAKKLAKLAKKLAKLALAL-NH2 12 19 155 504 VAKKLAKLAKKLAKLALAL-NH2 70 110 20 38 FAKKLAKLAKKLLAL-NH2 350 100 156 505 VAKKLAKLAKKLLAL-NH2 620 85 35 55 FAKLLAKALKKLL-NH2 20 32 157 506 VAKLLAKALKKLL-NH2 120 75 1 1 FALALKALKKALKKLKKALKKAL-COOH 20 27 159 508 VALALKALKKALKKLKKALKKAL-COOH 70 190 10 25 FALALKALKKLAKKLKKLAKKAL-NH2 16 24 160 509 VALALKALKKLAKKLKKLAKKAL-NH2 40 95 9 24 FALALKALKKLLKKLKKLAKKAL-NH2 10 55 161 510 VALALKALKKLLKKLKKLAKKAL-NH2 10 77

Although the effects of reduction of toxicity to mammalian cells by valine substitution is accompanied by modest reductions of therapeutic activity against microbial pathogens and cancer cells, there are some cases in which the valine substitution results in a desirable increase in therapeutic activity. This can be seen in the following Table 15 where it is shown that the valine substitution in some cases has increased the peptide's activity against the gram negative bacterium Pseudomonas.

Hemolysis and WI38 values represent LD50 values. P. aerug values represent MIC values in μg/mL against Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC accession number 9027.

TABLE 15 SEQ ID P NO: No. Sequence Hemolysis WI38 P. aerug 17 35 FAKKLAKLAKKLAKLAL 100 25 200 32 50 VAKKLAKLAKKLAKLAL 420 45 15 25 43 FAKLLAKLAKKLL 20 25 100 30 48 VAKLLAKLAKKLL 200 160 5 86 124 FAKLLAKLAKKVL 300 21 100 116 154 VAKLLAKLAKKVL 450 110 100

Example 7

Preferred Peptides

Preferred peptides can be selected from the above described experimental data. Preferred antimicrobial peptides for gram positive or gram negative bacteria can be selected as having MIC values of less than or equal to about 10 μg/ml, or as having MBC values of less than or equal to about 25 μg/ml. Preferred antifungal peptides can be selected as having MIC or MBC values of less than or equal to about 25 μg/ml. Preferred anticancer peptides can be selected as having LD50 values of less than or equal to about 25 μg/ml.

The following Table 16 lists representative preferred peptides, where an ‘X’ indicates the peptide is a preferred peptide for that column's property. The peptide's “length” is the number of amino acid residues in the sequence.

TABLE 16 SEQ ID P- Length Anti- Anti- Anti- NO: number (AA) bacterial fungal cancer 1  1 23 X X 2  2 23 X X X 4 11 23 X 6 13 23 X 8 23 23 X X 10 25 23 X X 11 26 21 X X X 12 27 19 X X 13   27B 19 X X X 14   27C 19 X 15 30 23 X 16 34 16 X X X 17 35 17 X X X 18 36 19 X X 19 37 23 X X 20 38 15 X X 23 41 19 X 25 43 13 X X X 26 44 15 X X 27 45 14 X 28 46 15 X 29 47 12 X 30 48 13 X X X 31 49 12 X 32 50 17 X X 34 54 13 X 35 55 13 X X X 36 56 13 X 41 61 15 X 43 64 15 X 45 66 13 X 46 70 23 X X 50 74 13 X 51 75 13 X X 52 76 14 X 55 80 23 X 56 81 23 X X 57 91 15 X X 58 92 13 X X X 60 94 13 X X 65 101  13 X 66 102  13 X X 67 103  12 X X 68 104  20 X X 74 110  12 X 75 111  13 X X 77 113  13 X 80 118  13 X X 81 119  14 X X 84 122  13 X X 85 123  10 X 86 124  13 X X X 87 125  13 X 93 131  5 X 106 144  12 X X 108 146  13 X X 112 150  17 X 115 153  17 X X 116 154  13 X 126 165  11 X X 128 167  12 X X 131 170  10 X 143 182  10 X 152 501  15 X 162 67 23 X X 163 100  13 X X 164 69 23 X 165 97 13 X X

Preferred peptides for stimulation and proliferation can also be selected. The following Table 17 lists representative preferred peptides, where an ‘X’ indicates that the peptide is a preferred peptide for that column's property. Peptides which are stimulatory for leukytes at 0.1 μg/ml to 1.0 μg/ml concentration are preferred, as at this concentration the peptides are not toxic to red blood cells, WI-38 fibroblasts, or to human leukocytes. Peptides which are stimulatory for fibroblasts at 0.1 μg/ml to 1.0 μg/ml are preferred, as at this concentration the peptides are not toxic.

TABLE 17 Preferred peptides for leukocyte and fibroblast stimulation/proliferation SEQ ID NO: P-number Length Leukocyte Fibroblast 1 29 23 X X 2  2 23 X X 5 12 38 X X 6 13 23 X X 8 23 23 X X 10 25 23 X X 11 26 21 X X 12 27 19 X X 13   27B 19 X X 14   27C 19 X X 15 30 23 X X 16 34 16 X X 17 35 17 X X 20 38 15 X 27 45 14 X 28 46 15 X 30 48 13 X 32 50 17 X 34 54 13 X 45 66 13 X X 46 70 23 X X 50 74 13 X X 51 75 13 X X 55 80 23 X 56 81 23 X 57 91 15 X X 58 92 13 X X 59 93 13 X 60 94 13 X 61 95 13 X X 65 101  13 X 66 102  13 X 71 107  19 X X 74 110  12 X 75 111  13 X 77 113  13 X 80 118  13 X 81 119  14 X 87 125  13 X X 90 128  5 X X 91 129  5 X 92 130  5 X 115 153  17 X 116 154  13 X 126 165  11 X 127 166  11 X 129 168  6 X X 132 171  11 X 137 176  11 X 138 177  12 X 139 178  11 X X 140 179  11 X X 141 180  11 X X 142 181  10 X X 143 182  10 X X 144 183  5 X X 145 184  5 X X 159 508  23 X X 162 67 23 X X 164 69 18 X

Example 8

Synergistic Effects with Lysozyme

Synergy between lytic peptides and lysozyme was assayed. Sterilized milk was inoculated with bacteria to 5×10⁵ per ml. Peptide Shiva-10 (SEQ ID NO:4) was added to 10 μg/ml, and chicken lysozyme was added to 1 mg/ml. The percent killing of bacteria was determined.

TABLE 18 Staph. aureus Pseud. aeruginosa Peptide and lysozyme 0% 100%  Peptide 0% 0% Lysozyme 0% 0%

Synergy between cecropin SB-37 (SEQ ID NO:5) and lysozyme was determined against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci (PSPT), Pseudomonas solanacearum (PS), Erwinia caratovora subsp. carotova (EC), and Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (XC). LD₅₀ (μM) values were determined.

TABLE 19 SB-37 Lysozyme SB-37 and Lysozyme PSPT 5.20 > 0.19 PS 64.0 > 16.0 EC 1.48 > 0.44 XC 0.57 > 0.027 > indicates greater than 1000.

Synergy between Shiva-1 and lysozyme was determined. The percent viability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was determined relative to blank controls. Lysozyme was used at the same molar concentration as the peptide.

TABLE 20 Peptide concen- Shiva-1 and tration (μM) SB-37 Shiva-1 Lysozyme (1x) Lysozyme (1x) 0 100 100 100 100 0.01 100 100 100 56.6 0.1 79.4 69.6 82.2 25.8 1 48.8 37.9 52.1 4.4 5 38.5 1.5 7.9 0.2 7.5 0.7 0.1 0.6 0 25 0 0 0.4 0

Synergy between Shiva-1 and lysozyme was determined. The percent viability of gram positive S. intermedius 19930, S. intermedius 20034, and S. aureus was determined relative to blank controls. Lysozyme was used at ten times the molar concentration as the peptide.

TABLE 21 S. intermedius 19930 Peptide con- Shiva-1 and centration (μM) SB-37 Shiva-1 Lysozyme (10x) Lysozyme (10x) 0 100 100 100 100 0.01 100 100 100 100 0.1 94.7 81.8 100 79.2 0.5 69.4 65.0 81.3 65.1 1 42.5 42.1 53 43 5 36.1 35.2 49.5 17.2 10 5.6 1.2 34.4 1.1 50 0 0 22 0

TABLE 22 S. intermedius 20034 Peptide con- Shiva-1 and centration (μM) SB-37 Shiva-1 Lysozyme (10x) Lysozyme (10x) 0 100 100 100 100 0.01 100 100 100 100 0.25 85.4 87.1 100 85.1 0.5 68.0 80.0 59.0 53.4 0.75 62.2 60.1 42.3 41.0 5 35.1 4.1 38.3 4.3 50 0 0 10.0 0

TABLE 23 S. aureus Peptide con- Shiva-1 and centration (μM) SB-37 Shiva-1 Lysozyme (10x) Lysozyme (10x) 0 100 100 100 100 0.01 100 100 100 100 0.1 100 100 100 100 0.5 81.0 50.1 100 100 1 47.5 24.4 51.0 31.2 5 31.8 15.9 18.4 8.2 10 5.6 4.5 13.3 4.5 50 1.9 1.6 9.5 1.4

Synergy experiments can also be performed using peptides in the presence of EDTA, which potentiates the peptides additively or synergistically.

Example 9

Synergistic Effects with Antibiotics

Synergy between peptide Shiva-10 (SEQ ID NO:4) and various antimicrobial agents was investigated against Escherichia coli 25922. The following table illustrates the beneficial effects of combining the peptide with the agents, where the numbers are the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC; μg/mL).

TABLE 24 Agent Without peptide With peptide Shiva-10 50 n/a Ticarcillin 100 50 (15 μg/mL peptide) Cefoperazone 150 2.5 (15 μg/mL peptide)  Doxycycline 5  1 (15 μg/mL peptide) Neomycin 100 5 (5 μg/mL peptide) Amikacin 150 50 (5 μg/mL peptide)  Tetracycline 10 2.5 (5 μg/mL peptide)  

Synergy between peptide Shiva-10 (SEQ ID NO:4) and various antimicrobial agents was investigated against Staph. aureus 29213. The following table illustrates the beneficial effects of combining the peptide with the agents, where the numbers are the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC; μg/mL).

TABLE 25 Agent Without peptide With 5 μg/mL peptide Shiva-10 200 n/a Ampicillin 5 2.5 Ticarcillin 25 15 Cefoperazone 10 2.5 Tobramycin 25 10 Tetracycline 10 1

Synergy between peptide FLAK 26AM (P35; SEQ ID NO:17) and various antimicrobial agents was investigated against Staph. aureus 29213 MBC. The following table illustrates the beneficial effects of combining the peptide with the agents, where the numbers are the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC; μg/mL). This experiment determined the peptide MBC in the absence of the antimicrobial agent, or in the presence of the indicated concentration of antimicrobial agent

TABLE 26 Agent MBC of peptide FLAK 26AM alone 50 Vancomycin (1 ppm) 32 Cefoperazone (0.25 ppm) 20

Synergy between doxacycline and various peptides was investigated against P. aeruginosa 27853. The following table illustrates the beneficial effects of combining doxacycline and the peptides, where the numbers are the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC; μg/mL). When combined with the peptides, the doxacycline was held at 10 ppm concentration.

TABLE 27 Agent Without doxacycline With doxacycline Doxacycline n/a 100 SB-37 (P5; SEQ ID NO: 3) 200 30 FLAK 26AM (P35; SEQ ID 50 32 NO: 17)

Synergy between tetracycline and various peptides was investigated against Escherichia coli 25922 MBC. The following table illustrates the beneficial effects of combining tetracycline and the peptides, where the numbers are the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC; μg/mL). When combined with the peptides, the concentration of tetracycline was held at 1.5 ppm.

TABLE 28 Agent Without tetracycline With tetracycline Tetracycline n/a 10 FLAK 06AM (P27; SEQ ID 75 25 NO: 12) FLAK 26AM (P35; SEQ ID 50 20 NO: 17)

Example 10

Synergistic Effects with Chemotherapy Agents

Other investigators have reported that lytic peptides which are inhibitory to cancer cells will act synergistically with conventional cancer chemotherapy drugs. The FLAK peptides are no exception. Table 29 below demonstrates for example that selected FLAK peptides are synergistic with Tamoxifen in the inhibition of the MCF7 line of breast cancer cells. Table 30 lists other more active anti-cancer peptide candidates for synergistic application with Tamoxifen or other cancer therapy drugs.

Tables 29 and 30 also show toxicity of the selected peptides against RBCs, WBCs, and WI38 cells. When used at very low non-toxic levels selected anti-cancer peptides can synergistically potentiate other chemotherapy agents to permit their effective use at substantially lower dose levels with consequently fewer side effects.

TABLE 29 Synergy of FLAK peptides with tamoxifen on MCF7 cells Active agent LD50 on MCF7 cells SEQ ID NO: MCF7 Peptide Tamox. Total conc. (P No.) Agent LD50 μg/ml conc. μg/ml conc. μg/ml μg/ml Tamoxifen 20 0 20 20 164 (69)  Alone 79 With Tamox. 2.5 4.6 7.1 145 (184) Alone 240 With Tamox. 10 4 14 121 (160) Alone 240 With Tamox. 11 3.7 14.7 106 (144) Alone 310 With Tamox. 35 7.7 42.7 SEQ ID NO: MCF7 LD50 RBC LD50 WI38 LD50 WBC LD50 (P No.) μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml 164 (69) 79 900 60 140  145 (184) 240 850 1000 410  121 (160) 240 >1000 700 900  106 (144) 310 600 740 320  17 (35) 9 200 25 25  32 (50) 32 420 40 420  20 (38) 17 350 100 54

TABLE 30 Other highly active peptide candidates for synergistic anti-cancer applications SEQ ID NO: MCF7 LD50 RBC LD50 WI38 LD50 WBC LD50 (P No.) μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml μg/ml 17 (35) 9 200 25 25 32 (50) 32 420 40 420 20 (38) 17 350 100 54

Example 11

Synergistic Effects with Growth Factors

It has been shown above in Example 4 and Table 11 that certain of the FLAK peptides are synergistic with other mitogens or growth factors in the stimulatory and/or proliferative properties of the peptides.

Example 12

Activity Against Drug Resistant Strains

Peptides were assayed for their activity against tobramycin sensitive and resistant strains. As shown in the following Table 31, peptides P56 (SEQ ID NO:36), P74 (SEQ ID NO:50), and P125 (SEQ ID NO:87) showed enhanced activity against tobramycin resistant (tr) Pseudomonas ATCC 13096 than against tobramycin sensitive (ts) Pseudomonas ATCC 27853. The same three peptides showed enhanced activity against clinical tobramycin resistant strain 960890198-3c (Table 31).

TABLE 31 Peptide tr Pseudomonas 13096 ts Pseudomonas 27853 SEQ ID NO: 36 (P56) 16 125 SEQ ID NO: 50 (P74) 16 125 SEQ ID NO: 87 (P125) 4 31

TABLE 32 tr Pseudomonas Peptide 960890198-3c ts Pseudomonas 27853 SEQ ID NO: 36 (P56) >50 125 SEQ ID NO: 50 (P74) 25 125 SEQ ID NO: 87 (P92) 50 63

Example 13

Wound Healing

The inventive peptides can be used in compositions for topical or systemic delivery in wound healing applications. The compositions can be a liquid, cream, paste, or other pharmaceutically acceptable formulation. The compositions may contain other biologically active agents. The compositions may contain pharmaceutically acceptable carriers.

Those peptides preferred for wound healing, shown in Table 33 below, are peptides which were preferred for either, or or both, leukocyte or fibroblast stimulation.

TABLE 33 Preferred peptides for wound healing SEQ ID NO: P No. 1  1 2  2 5 12 6 13 8 23 10 25 11 26 12 27 13   27B 14   27C 15 30 16 34 17 35 20 38 27 45 28 46 30 48 32 50 34 54 45 66 46 70 50 74 51 75 55 80 56 81 57 91 58 92 59 93 60 94 61 95 65 101  66 102  71 107  74 110  75 111  77 113  80 118  81 119  87 125  90 128  91 129  92 130  93 131  115 153  116 154  126 165  127 166  129 168  132 171  137 176  138 177  139 178  140 179  141 180  142 181  143 182  144 183  145 184  159 508  162 67 164 69

All of the compositions and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the methods described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention. More specifically, it will be apparent that certain agents which are both chemically and physiologically related may be substituted for the agents described herein while the same or similar results would be achieved. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention. 

1. An isolated peptide which is antimicrobial, antifungal, anticancer, or which promotes stimulation and/or proliferation of normal mammalian cells, the peptide comprising phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine residues, wherein: the peptide is 5 to 22 amino acids in length; the peptide is at least 80% phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine residues; and the peptide has no more than 20% phenylalanine and tryptophan residues.
 2. The peptide of claim 1, wherein the peptide is 5 to 20 amino acids in length.
 3. The peptide of claim 1, wherein the peptide consists essentially of phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine residues.
 4. The peptide of claim 1, wherein the peptide consists of phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine residues.
 5. The peptide of claim 1, wherein the first amino acid of the peptide is valine.
 6. The peptide of claim 1, wherein the peptide is at least 70% identical to SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:126, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:43, SEQ ID NO:115, or SEQ ID NO:132.
 7. The peptide of claim 1, further defined as SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:22, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:26, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:28, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:36, SEQ ID NO:39, SEQ ID NO:40, SEQ ID NO:41, SEQ ID NO:43, SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:65, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:73, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:77, SEQ ID NO:78, SEQ ID NO:80, SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:86, SEQ ID NO:87, SEQ ID NO:103, SEQ ID NO:106, SEQ ID NO:115, SEQ ID NO:126, SEQ ID NO:128, SEQ ID NO:131, SEQ ID NO:138, SEQ ID NO:164, or SEQ ID NO:165.
 8. The peptide of claim 1, further defined as SEQ ID NO:37, SEQ ID NO:38, SEQ ID NO:44, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:62, SEQ ID NO:76, SEQ ID NO:82, SEQ ID NO:85, SEQ ID NO:88, SEQ ID NO:90, SEQ ID NO:92, SEQ ID NO:98, SEQ ID NO:127, SEQ ID NO:129, SEQ ID NO:130, SEQ ID NO:132, SEQ ID NO:137, SEQ ID NO:139, SEQ ID NO:140, SEQ ID NO:142, or SEQ ID NO:143.
 9. The peptide of claim 1, further defined as SEQ ID NO:89, SEQ ID NO:107, SEQ ID NO:110, SEQ ID NO:113, SEQ ID NO:114, and SEQ ID NO:153.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the peptide is 5 to 15 amino acids in length.
 11. The peptide of claim 1, wherein the peptide is 15 to 20 amino acids in length.
 12. The peptide of claim 1, wherein the peptide is 10 to 15 amino acids in length.
 13. The peptide of claim 1, wherein the peptide is 15 to 22 amino acids in length.
 14. An isolated peptide which is antimicrobial, antifungal, anticancer, or which promotes stimulation and/or proliferation of normal mammalian cells, the peptide comprising phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine residues, wherein: the peptide is 5 to 22 amino acids in length; and the peptide is at least 95% phenylalanine, leucine, alanine, and lysine residues. 